


Hesitating and lingering

by sssssssim



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Hogwarts Eighth Year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 18:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8113240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/pseuds/sssssssim
Summary: When Hermione finds out Draco Malfoy will also be returning to Hogwarts after the war, she doesn't really know what to think. But McGonagall asks them to be civil towards him, and Hermione thinks she'll be able to do that. She does more than that, bit by bit.This is the story of the second time Hermione was in the 7th year.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This has no plot, it's mostly ridiculous random fluff, there's very few of the other characters, I don't remember how non-verbal spells work, I've set this more in future time I mean there's laptop and Netflix, there's an adorable OC that i should have written more about, and Draco seems a bit out of character because, you know, he's actually trying to be mentally healthy. Also, this is a a couple of years TOO LATE !!?

** **

**∆∆∆**

Having spent the summer at the Burrows, Hermione wasn’t surprised to see Neville apparate just a short while after Luna came over. This was the norm and they had the routine down to a T. 

Ginny would send her Patronus to alert Harry and Ron (Kingsley would usually let them off for the day, if they weren’t in the middle of anything too important), Hermione would gather up snacks and drinks, Neville would grab some blankets while Luna would try to convince George to join them. Some days, she actually succeeded. Today, however, was not one of those days. 

Still, they all made their way to the clearing they usually sat in, and it didn’t take long for Harry and Ron to join them. The chatter came easily by now, and they had all learned what topics to stay  _ the hell away  _ from. 

But it was clear that there was something on Neville’s mind, and Ron was the one who pointed it out, surprisingly enough.

‘Just out with it, mate’, he said, sighing.

‘It’s nothing bad, per say’, Neville winced. ‘It’s just that McGonagall came over for tea yesterday-’

‘Do you usually have tea with our house head?’, Harry asked quickly.

‘My Gran does’, Neville threw him a look. ‘Anyway, she-’

He looked to Hermione then, hesitating. She tried her best to smile reassuringly at him, and it seemed to do the job, because Neville nodded twice and squared his shoulders before speaking.

‘She wanted me to talk to you about something, to those of you that are going back to Hogwarts.’

That didn’t sound too bad, Hermione didn’t understand why Neville was so nervous. 

Harry and Ron quickly shrugged, their shoulders slumping. This didn’t concern them, considering they were not going back to school. For now, they were helping Kingsley round up the remaining Death Eaters and after that, they were to start Auror training. School was not something that interested them anymore.

It interested Hermione, though, so she will be going back. It wasn’t necessary, really, the Ministry decreed that all 7th year students that were there for the War would get an honorary graduation. But she wanted to do it properly, so she was going back to Hogwarts for one final year, as Head Girl, nonetheless. Neville will be joining her (as Head Boy), because of his sudden decision of becoming a herbology teacher, which was something Professor Sprout was willing to condone. 

Ginny and Luna will be there as well, of course, also in the 7th year. 

Honestly, Hermione was quite excited. She’ll miss the boys, of course, and it was going to be weird, just her and Neville from their year, but Hermione was more than willing to put the last year behind her and move on with her life.

She thought Neville was on the same page with her, but seeing him fidgeting now, she wasn’t so sure.

‘How bad can it be?’, she asked, only half joking.

‘Well’, Neville looked up at the sky, ‘you and I aren’t the only ones going back. There’s one more, and… It’s Malfoy.’

There was a loud silence that followed that sentence, and it took a while for Neville to fill it.

‘McGonagall wanted to ask us to be… civil. He’s going to have it hard enough as it is, and we shouldn’t be making it even harder for him. Redemption is a long road, she said, and it’ll help if we don’t put up additional walls for him to climb over.’

Luna was the first one to speak.

‘He’s changed.’, she said airily, making everyone stare at her. Of course, she ignored it. ‘I was visiting Daddy at St. Mungo's and I ran into him. He looked nothing like the Draco we grew up with. He was… tiny.’

‘He’s taller than you’, Ron deadpanned.

Luna shrugged. ‘Yes, but he doesn’t hold himself like it anymore.’

‘Why was he at St. Mungo's, anyway?’, Neville asked.

‘His father underwent some treatment before he was sent to Azkaban.’, Hermione explained. ‘I read it in the Profet.’

‘What of his mother?’, Ron asked and Hermione rolled her eyes at his complete ignorance.

‘She was sentenced to house arrest, for five years. Lucius will be spending them in Azkaban, and if he behaves, he’ll be on house arrest afterwards.’

‘But Draco got off’, Ron frowned.

‘You know this, man.’, Harry shoved at his shoulder. ‘You were there for the trial.’

‘Oh, right’, Ron’s face lighted up in understanding, making all of them snicker.

‘He’s going to have a terrible life at Hogwarts’, Ginny finally said, and Hermione couldn’t help but agree.

‘But you were there’, Neville said somewhat desperately. ‘You know he wasn’t … as bad as he could have been, last year.’

Hermione frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

Neville shrugged. ‘The Carrows always had us cursing the younger years. People usually refused, at the beginning.’

‘By the end of it, there were only a handful of us.’, Ginny grumbled under her breath.

‘He never refused’, Neville frowned, ‘I don’t think he was … allowed. But he always helped the fallen ones to get to the Infirmary. And I saw him apologizing to the ones he… hurt.’

Neville paused for a few seconds. ‘And when I was running to the Room of Requirement, he helped me.’

‘Really?’, Ginny asked, skeptically.

Neville nodded. ‘I ran straight into him and I was fully prepared to fight him too, but that’s not what he did. Malfoy pushed me away, told me to run and he even blew up a bit of the wall to slow the Carrows down.’ The boy shook his head, laughing a bit brokenly. ‘I don’t think I would have made it if it wasn’t for him.’

Hermione took a few minutes to gather her thoughts, but it was a hard thing to do, considering she couldn’t think of anything else except for one thing, one moment.

The moment when Voldemort appeared in the Hogwarts courtyard, with Harry dead. The speech, his laughter. The way he sweetly said Draco’s name, the desperation in Lucius’s voice when he ordered his son to listen to Voldermort, to join him. 

The way Draco was shaking, even as his voice didn’t waver when he said a strong ‘no’. The way Draco stared at Neville as he started his speech. 

By the end of it, everyone was willing to fight, to keep on fighting despite Harry’s death. But nobody moved.

Except for Draco, who made his way to Neville’s side.

‘I need your wand’, he said.

‘Why?’, Neville frowned at him.

‘Because mine is currently’, he spared a glance at Voldemort, ‘otherwise occupied. And you have another weapon.’

Draco didn’t look away from Neville’s face, but Hermione saw Neville’s fingers tighten on the Sorting Hat. 

He gave Draco his wand, and Voldemort laughed at that. He went on into another spiel, about how everyone will see it his way, in the end. Hermione didn’t look at the Dark Lord, because she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Malfoy.

He was clutching to Neville’s wand tightly, and he wasn’t looking at Voldemort either, he was looking to his mother. Hermione saw him mouth ‘I love you’ to her, and the woman smiled, nodding once before putting some space between herself and the rest of the Death Eaters, Lucius included. 

‘Boy’, she said loudly, interrupting Voldemort in the middle of a word. ‘It’s time to live.’

And then all hell broke loose: Harry woke up and attacked Voldemort, Neville got out Cedric Gryffindor’s sword and Draco ran to his mother’s side, fighting alongside her against the Death Eaters. 

Everybody was shocked afterwards, when during his trial, Draco admitted to working with Dumbledore and Snape since the start of the school year. Of course, neither of them were alive anymore to cement this statement, but Harry backed it up, having seen it when Snape gave him his memories. 

So Draco walked away, and Narcissa got off relatively easy, Lucius taking the worst of the blow.

And here they were.

‘McGonagall thinks we can help him’, she finally said, making everyone look at her.

‘Malfoy’s not the type of person to accept help’, Harry said, very matter of fact. ‘Especially not from you lot.’

‘I’m willing to try’, Luna said, somehow subdued.

Neville nodded. ‘McGonagall sees to think he’s worth it.’

‘He was at Fred’s funeral’, Ginny said in small voice.

‘No he wasn’t’, Ron snapped.

‘I saw him’, Ginny breathed out. ‘He kept to the sidelines, but he was there. And it’s not the only funeral I saw him at.’

Hermione nodded at that, because she has seen him as well.

‘I respect him for that’, Ginny said with finality. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever be able to be his friend, nor do I wish to’, she snorted. ‘But I’ll be … civil. That won’t be hard.’

Hermione couldn’t help but agree. She has always seen Draco’s potential, mostly in his brain. Every year since their first at Hogwarts, Draco’s grades have been a close second to hers, and really… he has made mistakes, yes, but most of them were dictated by his parents. And in the end, he fought on the right side of the war.

‘Civil’, Hermione said slowly. ‘I can do civil.’

‘To Malfoy’, Ron breathed out with wide eyes.

‘Well’, Harry tilted his head, suddenly amused, ‘you’re ‘bout to have a very interesting last year at Hogwarts.’

Months later, Hermione would dub that sentence the understatement of the century. 

**∆∆∆**

It felt good to be on the train again, without the fear of Death Eaters or the upcoming war. There was an air of happiness in every compartment, and Hermione soaked it all in. 

As Head Boy and Girl, her and Neville patrolled the train every now and then, spending their free time in a compartment with Ginny, Luna, and a constant flow of Prefects that were saying hello.

They saw Draco sitting alone in a compartment at the end of the train, with his feet crossed on the seat, leaning against the window and reading. They didn’t disturb him, but Hermione had to agree with what Luna said: he did look tiny. 

He was paler than ever and the dark circles under his eyes looked like bruises. What shocked Hermione more, though, was the fact that he wasn’t wearing the usual suit and robes she was accustomed to. No, instead he was wearing black skinny jeans, a black jumper with an intricate neckline and, the most surprising thing, a pair of black leather chucks. 

She didn’t comment on it, and Neville didn’t either. Instead, they nodded at each other and went back on their way. 

**∆∆∆**

Hermione felt truly happy in the Great Hall. This was home, and it was the start of something … quite magical. She was ready to erase all memories of the war, of this castle being fouled by battle and monsters. 

There were changes, though, and they were striking.

For one, Draco was the only person at the Slytherin table. He was sitting very straight, staring at his hands, which were clasped tightly on the table in front of him. 

There were a lot of empty seats at the other tables as well, but Ginny’s hand was in Hermione’s, and McGonagall felt so  _ right  _ as Headmistress.

She had also kept the job of sorting the first years. There weren’t many of them, 15 at most. But they were as excited as they should be. 

Hermione couldn’t help but notice that they only got sorted into three of the houses. Draco remained alone at his table.

And then there was only one child left, a girl with dark hair, curled furiously and adorably, and a set of beautiful bright green eyes. 

‘Haylee Barnes’, McGonagall said, and the little girl slowly made her way to the chair.

The Sorting Hat didn’t take long before it boomed a very loud ‘Slytherin!’. It was met with silence. The little girl stood frozen in place, her cheeks red and her eyes wide.

Malfoy whooped, an obnoxiously excited WOOHOO! that startled Hermione half off her seat. He then got up and made his way to the little girl’s side, extending a hand to her.

‘My lady’, he said oddly sweetly. ‘May I offer you a piggy back ride to our table?’

Haylee giggled at that, and blushed even harder, but she nodded.

Draco easily picked her up and set her up on his shoulders, with a lot more strength that Hermione thought he had. Somehow, they locked eyes across the hall and she could see the anxiousness in his. It made her start clapping. 

Soon, everyone else followed, a lot more subdued than they did for the rest of the first years, but it was still something. Something that made Draco sigh deeply and Haylee smile. 

Draco sat her down at the table and introduced himself properly, shaking her hand, before they both turned to look back at the Sorting chair. It snapped McGonagall out of her shock.

The Headmistress made a short but efficient speech, about how things have changed, but it was their duty to make the best of it. It warmed Hermione’s heart, just a little. 

‘There are also some changes I have to point out’, McGonagall said, starting to introduce all the new teachers. Hermione tried her best not to think about all the teachers that should have still been there, and Ginny grabbed her hand again.

‘Also’, the Headmistress went on, ‘the teacher body thought it would be best to change one of the ancient rules Hogwarts has always insisted on. From this year on, students will be expected to sit at their house tables only for formal feasts.’

Neville and the Hufflepuff Prefect were off their seats in an instant.

‘Sit down, boys’, McGonagall’s voice boomed, ‘this  _ is  _ a formal feast.’

They both sat down with a blush. The Headmistress smirked, and called upon the food.

**∆∆∆**

Hermione and Neville were the only ones to patrol that night, and they thought best to check the common rooms as well, make sure everyone settled in. She was the one who offered to take Slytherin and Hufflepuff. Neville asked if  she was sure, but Hermione nodded strongly.

Still, she had to pause and take a few deep breaths in front of the dungeon entrance. The portrait regarded her coldly, a very pale man she didn’t recognize. 

‘I’m not letting you in even if you know the password.’

Hermione huffed. ‘I’m Head Girl, I’m  _ allowed  _ inside.’

‘I don’t care.’, the portrait all but spitted out.

One of the portraits close by huffed. ‘I’ll let Malfoy know you’re out here’, she said, and Hermione nodded gratefully.

It didn’t take long for the door to open, and Draco was regarding her with clear apprehension. 

‘Why didn’t you just come in, Granger?’

‘The portrait wouldn’t let me.’

Draco turned to it, glaring. ‘As Prefect, I command you to let her in every time she wishes, if she knows the password. Her and Neville Longbottom both.’

The portrait sneered. ‘Some Slytherin you turned out to be.’

Draco just rolled his eyes and urged Hermione to follow him in. She did so and really, her jaw dropped. She has never been in the Slytherin common room, and it was a gorgeous, luxurious thing, if not cold looking, partially caused by the fact that all the windows in the room looked out to the lake. Under the lake. Hermione shivered.

It made Draco smirk, slightly. 

‘Haylee’, he said, bringing Hermione in front of a sofa where the girl was seated. ‘This is Hermione Granger. She’s Head Girl and a Gryffindor.’

‘I’ve heard about you’, she said. ‘You fought in the war!’

Before Hermione got to answer, Haylee all but shrieked ‘I like your hair.’

‘Cause it’s as messy as yours?’, Draco drawled out, making both of the girls glare at him.

‘I’m not saying it looks bad’, he shrugged, ‘But you can’t say it’s not messy. Anyway’, he turned to look Hermione right in the eyes. ‘What are you doing here?’

There were no traces of sarcasm or hate in his voice, which shocked Hermione quite a bit. He seemed genuinely curious.

‘We wanted to check if you all settled in alright.’, she said to Haylee.

‘We get our own bedrooms!’, the child was clearly pleased.  ‘And the bed is  _ huge _ ’. 

Hermione couldn’t help but smile, she was adorable. 

‘There’s no point for girls and boys wings, though’, Draco pointed out. ‘We set up across the hall from one another. I don’t know if it’s technically allowed, but-’

‘I think it is’, Hermione interrupted, before turning to speak to Haylee. It seemed easier. ‘In the Gryffindor rooms, girls and boys used to sleep in different towers. If any boy tried to get up to the girl’s quarters, the stairs would turn into a slide.’

Draco snorted at that, and Hermione turned to look at him.

‘They don’t do that anymore and the house elves even helped them move around. Still separate dormitories for girls and boys, but interlaced in the two towers. It’s the same in Hufflepuff as well, probably Ravenclaw too.’

‘Fascinating, Granger, really’, Draco deadpanned and this was what Hermione was used to, the hostility and sarcasm.

It made her roll her eyes. ‘I’ll leave you to your night, it’s quite late.’ She smiled at Haylee. ‘It was nice to meet you.’

‘You too’, the girl grinned at Hermione, waving cheerily. 

Draco walked her to the door, incredibly polite, and it made Hermione stop before she got out. 

‘Are you alright?’, she whispered, making his head snap up at her, shock written all over his features.

‘No’, he whispered back. ‘Are you?’

Hermione didn’t dignify that with an answer, not when it was clear. Most of the students weren’t even close to alright. She took her leave without another word.

**∆∆∆**

When she stepped into the Potions class the next day, all Hermione could see was the image of Draco picking up Haylee last night at the Sorting ceremony. That was probably what made her sit down next to him.

He stared at her, only mildly angry. ‘No’, he said sternly. ‘Absolutely not.’

‘Why not?’, Hermione challenged.

He just threw her a look that conveyed how stupid he thought the question was.

‘We’re the smartest ones in this class, Malfoy. It’s only the logical thing to do.’

Draco scoffed. ‘Didn’t make you sit next to me in years past’, he grumbled under his breath, and it made Hermione pause.

‘And that was my mistake’, she whispered, not looking at him when his head snapped up. ‘Which I’m willing not to make again. But I’ll leave if you tell me to.’

‘You’ve gone bonkers’, he deadpanned after a few beats.

Hermione glared at him, but it was a hard thing to do considering how amusing the shock on his face was. ‘Quite possibly.’, she nodded, waiting for him to say the word, to send her away.

He didn’t, just continued staring. Most of the people in class were doing the same, all fellow Gryffindors. 

‘Oh no’, Ginny said, badly acting to appear affected. ‘If they’re teaming up there’s no way we’ll ever win any of the professor’s special presents.’

‘Most likely’, Professor Slughorn said, making his way into the classroom, smirking briefly at Hermione and Draco. ‘But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.’, he said somewhat sternly to the class, before turning to look at Hermione again.

‘Ten points to Gryffindor.’

‘Whatever for?’, she spluttered. 

‘For a marvelous display of school unity’, Slughorn was still smiling. ‘And ten points to Slytherin for-’

‘Not hexing her?’, Draco interrupted.

‘Yes’, Slughorn all but snorted. ‘That exactly, Mr. Malfoy.’

He started the lesson after that, and it was awkward, Hermione couldn’t pretend otherwise. But the potion they made together turned out perfectly and they finished in record time, Slughorn dismissing them for the rest of class.

Draco pulled out a book from his satchel and started reading. Hermione did the same.

**∆∆∆**

Hermione was too focused on the book she was reading, absently eating a piece of toast. She didn’t hear him approaching, but she heard all the discussions around her die down as someone tapped her shoulder.

She couldn’t stop the look of surprise that passed over her face when she saw Draco. She didn’t really see too much of him in the past two weeks, except for Potions.

‘I have a favor to ask you’, he said gruffly.

‘Uhm’, was all she managed, making him sigh and look away.

‘Haylee’s parents are muggles and-’

‘They let a muggle into Slytherin?’, a fifth year Gryffindor shrieked from across the table.

Hermione glared at him. ‘Ten points from Gryffindor.’

The younger boy spluttered. ‘Why?’

‘For being an asshole’, Hermione said strongly before turning back to Draco, not missing the shocked look that passed over his features. 

‘She asked me about the houses’, he finally said. ‘About what they mean. I don’t think it’s wise for me to explain it to her.’

Hermione didn’t hesitate. ‘You’re patrolling tonight, yes?’ She knew he was, after all, she was the one to make the Prefect’s schedule. After he nodded, she said she’ll stop by their common room during that time.

‘Thanks, Granger’, he sighed. ‘I owe you one’. It was said gruffly, clearly taking a lot out of him.

Hermione huffed. ‘You could write your half of the Potions essay today. That would be fair payment.’

Draco snorted. ‘Sure, I’ll leave it with Haylee.’ He hesitated, awkwardly, before mumbling a ‘See you’ and going to his table, where he sat down next to Haylee and smiled at her, quickly starting a conversation.

‘Wow’, Ginny said to her right. ‘That was…’

‘Civil?’, Hermione raised an eyebrow when it was clear the other girl wasn’t going to finish.

Ginny just nodded, still mildly in shock. ‘He looks like crap’, she whispered after a minute, and Hermione nodded.

Draco looked thin. His arms still had muscles, but they looked disproportionate to the rest of him. He was pale, paler than ever, and the dark circles under his eyes were a permanent feature. While his robes were always in pristine condition, the rest of his clothes weren’t. He never wore suits anymore, just black jeans, sometimes with artful holes in them, and a variety of black dress shirts and jumpers that were never ironed. He was always wearing the same leather chucks, and they were starting to look scruffy. 

One thing was clear, though. Draco Malfoy really wasn’t what he used to be. 

**∆∆∆**

Hermione spent the better part of an hour in the Slytherin common room, answering Haylee’s questions. She was a smart young girl, intuitive, and Hermione felt a kinship towards her, because they were both muggle born. 

She only faltered when Haylee asked about Draco.

‘I know what happened during the war.’, Haylee said. ‘Professor McGonagall told me when she came to my house to talk to my parents about magic. And after I got sorted, she told me Draco’s role in everything.’

‘What are you asking?’, Hermione said, apprehensive.

‘Was he really that bad?’, Haylee frowned. ‘Nobody ever talks to him, and I don’t understand. He’s so nice to me.’

Hermione smiled at that. ‘Is he?’

The little girl nodded. ‘He helps me with homework and he never gets annoyed by all the questions I ask him. He showed me where the owlery was, so I could write to my parents and… I couldn’t sleep much, the first week I was here, cause I missed home. He stayed up with me. Older boys are never this nice to younger girls.’

Hermione laughed at that, but Haylee was right. She tried to explain why everyone was so apprehensive about Draco, but it was a hard thing to do because she didn’t want to expose the young girl to all the nasty business of the war, or to the nasty side of Draco.

But she seemed to understand it anyway. ‘I really wish it wasn’t like that. I like Draco, he’s good now. Do you think there’s any way we could help him?’

Hermione faltered at that.

‘He told me you sat with him at Potions’, Haylee said. ‘That means you want to help as well.’

‘Yes’, Hermione admitted. ‘I’ll think about it, I promise.’

The discussion ended soon after that, because Draco came back from his patrol. He looked exhausted. Hermione used her Head Girl privileges and asked the house elves for two cups of hot chocolate. She gave one to Haylee, who took it with a happy screech, and the other one to Draco, who took it with a frown.

‘You should get some rest’, Hermione told him as gently as she could.

He only frowned harder. ‘Easier said than done.’

Hermione huffed and lowered her voice even more, hoping Haylee wouldn’t hear. ‘Madam Pomfrey has a mild sleeping potion. It helps.’

Draco just shook his head, and Hermione let him be.

**∆∆∆**

The next morning, Hermione joined Draco and Haylee at the Slytherin table. She was quickly followed by Neville and Luna, and Ginny came as well, even if she sat as far away from Draco as she could.

They introduced themselves to Haylee which, of course, had a lot of question. Hermione’s friends answered with a smile on their faces, and Draco was silent throughout the ordeal. He didn’t eat as much as he stared at the food on his plate.

After lunch, he was waiting for her outside of her room, saying he’ll walk with her to Potions class. Hermione tried to not be flustered by it.

Draco was silent, until he wasn’t. He stopped halfway down a staircase and put a hand on Hermione’s arm. It wasn’t hurtful, there was barely any pressure, but it made her stop and look at him.

He was frowning. ‘Granger, what are you doing?’

‘About what?’, she tried to play stupid. It didn’t work, because he narrowed his eyes.

‘This morning, at breakfast. And at Potions, and during Prefect meetings. What are you doing?  _ With me _ ?’

‘Being civil’, Hermione admitted. ‘At least that’s what McGonagall called it.’

Draco’s expression turned into an angry one.

‘Don’t do that’, Hermione frowned at him. ‘She didn’t force us into anything. Me. It’s all on me.’

‘It’s not’, he threw her a harsh look.

Hermione choose her next words carefully, because this was a very important moment, she realized. 

‘I’ve known you for 7 years now, Draco Malfoy, and all you ever did was try and make me hate you.’

He looked down at that, finally taking his hand off her.

‘And I did, I did hate you, for  _ making  _ me hate you. Because I… You’re smart, Draco, incredibly smart and you’re dedicated and damn it, you’re kind! And brave, and you weren’t allowed to be, before, and I hate your father for it.’

His eyes snapped up to hers at that. ‘What the hell are you saying?’

‘That you’re a good person and I think I could like you.’

He laughed at that, quite hard, but it sounded hollow.

‘You’re wasting your time’, he finally said, looking with something close to pity at her. 

‘Let me be the judge of that’, Hermione snapped. 

‘Granger’, he said slowly, like he was talking to a small child. ‘You and I will never be friends.’

‘Maybe’, she nodded. ‘That doesn’t mean I’m not willing to try.’

Draco sighed. ‘You’re as stubborn as a mule.’

She lightly slapped his chest, before resuming her way to class. ‘And I’m also almost late, so hurry up.’

He did, and he spent the entire duration of class looking at her when he thought she wouldn’t see him. Hermione didn’t really mind it. 

**∆∆∆**

The first Quidditch game of the season was between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. 20 minutes before it started, Hermione barged into the Slytherin common room and glared at Haylee and Draco, who were still in their pajamas.

‘Why aren’t you ready yet? Go get dressed, we’re going to miss the start.’

‘No’, Draco stared at her like she was insane. ‘Absolutely not.’

Hermione narrowed her eyes. ‘Haylee’, she asked sweetly, not looking away from Draco. ‘Have you ever been to a Quidditch game?’

‘No’, came the tiny response.

‘And do you want to come with me and my friends?’

There was a pause. ‘I don’t want to leave Draco alone.’

Hermione smirked at that, triumphant, because she saw the moment the fight left Draco. 

‘Fine’, he said around a sigh, turning to smile at Haylee. ‘Let’s get dressed.’

They came back out in record time, and they both followed Hermione out to the pitch. Draco stopped before they made their way in.

‘Who are you supporting?’, he asked.

‘Ravenclaw’, Hermione nodded.

‘Why?’, Haylee asked.

‘Because I don’t really have friends in Hufflepuff, but Luna is in Ravenclaw. Plus, if Ravenclaw ends up in the finals with Gryffindor, we can beat them a bit more easily.’

‘That’s logical’, Draco snorted, before pulling out his wand. With a few precise flicks of his wrist, his scarf was now supporting the Ravenclaw colors. Haylee screeched in excitement, and he was quick to do the same for her scarf.

It was clear to Hermione that Draco was very uncomfortable, making his way up the Gryffindor stands, but she made sure to shield him as much as possible, sitting on one side of him and making Haylee sit on the other, with Neville and Luna at their backs and a couple of first years in the front. 

The game was over in just over an hour, with Ravenclaw catching the snitch. Draco didn’t so much take part in the celebration as much as he made sure Haylee was safe and answering any question she had. 

Over all, Hermione considered it a success, especially when Draco whispered his thanks to her before they parted ways.

**∆∆∆**

Hermione was late leaving for the first Hogsmeade weekend because she had to write her weekly Head Girl report before she left. She met Draco at the castle exit, surprised that he was actually going out.

He seemed to sense this, because he sighed before explaining. ‘Haylee’s been pretty bummed that she’s not allowed to go. I’m gonna get her some sweets, maybe something from Weasley’s. She doesn’t… know much.’

‘She’s got you wrapped around her little finger’, Hermione couldn’t help but giggle.

‘I am aware of this’, Draco nodded. ‘But I can’t really help it.’

She laughed at that. ‘Mind if I join you?’

Draco tilted his head. ‘You’re not going to take no for an answer.’

‘Oh, I am’, she smiled. ‘But I won’t be happy about it.’

He was still looking at her with narrowed eyes. ‘Come on, Malfoy’, she boldly wrapped her arm around his, startling him. ‘I’ll buy you a sugar quill.’

It really wasn’t that bad. People were looking at them oddly when they reached town, and Draco was quick to pull his hand away from hers, but that was all he did. He spent a ridiculous amount of money in Zonko’s, and Hermione had to give him a lecture about healthy eating habits, which he mostly ignored.

When they got to Weasley’s, though, he just handed her a couple of gallons and asked her, very politely, to get something fun for Haylee, he’d wait outside. Hermione didn’t bother trying to convince him otherwise.

She didn’t linger too much in the store, just a couple of minutes to hug George and ask him about his parents and about how Ron was doing. He regarded her curiously when she told him that Draco’s waiting outside for her, but thankfully, he didn’t comment. Instead, he kissed her forehead and gave her a box of mini fireworks on the house. 

When she joined Draco outside, he seemed pleased by what she got for Haylee. 

‘Fancy a butterbeer?’, she asked, willing her voice to sound even. ‘I was going to meet Ginny.’

Draco shook his head. ‘You go ahead. Thank you for your help.’

Hermione stopped him from leaving. ‘How about a compromise? You come with me, we say hello to Ginny, grab a couple of butterbeers to-go and we can take them back to the castle.’

‘Like this didn’t feel enough like a date already’, Draco grumbled under his breath, making Hermione flush instantly.

‘It’s not a date’, she said sternly. ‘And Haylee will be there.’

‘What is it, then?’, he asked, somewhat desperately, but thankfully, still amused.

‘I thought we settled this, Malfoy. I’m trying to be your friend here.’

‘Fine’, he said, shaking his head. ‘I can’t fight this anymore, so come along, friend!’, he yelled the last words, making a couple of fellow students turn their heads to stare at him. ‘Yes, the former Death Eater is now friends with the smartest war hero there is! The muggle-born with the crazy hair! The end is near, I tell you! The apocalypse is soon to come!’

He yelled all of this, turning his back to her and walking back to the castle. It was ridiculous, absolutely mental, and Hermione lost it. She laughed for a long while, and she had to jog to catch up with him.

‘Malfoy!’, McGonagall’s loud voice boomed from a couple of feet down the road. ‘What in Merlin’s name are you on about?’

As she got there, Hermione saw Draco roll his eyes. ‘Granger wants to be my  _ friend _ .’

‘He finally gave in’, Hermione piped up, unable to keep the smirk off her face. ‘It’s just as well, I feel like the first thing a friend should know about me is that I always get what I want.’

‘Oh good’, Draco said with false enthusiasm. ‘You’re cocky too, how delightful.’

McGonagall looked like she was struggling not to laugh. 

‘Twenty points to Slytherin’, she said, ‘for that marvelous display of performance art.’

Draco scowled, looking more like his former self. ‘Now you’re all mocking me.’

‘Yes’, McGonagall smiled, ‘it’s quite  _ delightful _ .’

He scowled harder at that and wordlessly started walking back to the castle. Hermione moved to follow, but the Headmistress stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

McGonagall didn’t actually say anything, she just nodded, smiling somewhat proudly at Hermione.

‘I’m trying’, she whispered.

‘Good’, McGonagall answered, before letting her go.

Hermione spent the rest of the evening in the Slytherin common room, hanging out with Draco and Haylee. The girls told stories of muggle things, and Draco countered them with the magic equivalent.

It was not a bad evening, not at all.

**∆∆∆**

On the first day of the Christmas holiday, it took a long time for Hermione to say goodbye to everyone who came her way, and once everyone left to catch the train, she all but collapsed at a table in the Grand Hall.

Draco was the only one left, but Hermione didn’t really know if there were other students spending their holidays at the castle as well. McGonagall answered the question soon enough, making her way to Hermione’s table and beckoning Draco as well.

‘Right, you two are the only ones I have to worry about this Christmas. Am I to expect… mischief?’

Draco snorted. 

‘No, ma'am’, Hermione quickly said. ‘Not from me, anyway. I just plan on taking advantage of the library as much as I can?’

‘Really, Granger?’, Draco said in a somewhat disgusted manner. 

‘I’m not going to have access to it next year, am I? I want to read as much as I can. It’s mostly why I’m staying.’

Draco just shook his head, turning to look at the Professor.

‘I was going to ask permission to leave the grounds today. Christmas shopping and well, uh…’, he blushed. ‘Book shopping.’

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. ‘You can’t find the books you need in the library?’

Draco kept on blushing, but he stood his ground. ‘I’ve started reading muggle books in my spare time.’

‘That’s great!’, Hermione couldn’t help but screech. ‘Tell me what you’re interested in and I can recommend you some.’

He nodded at that, resigned. 

‘What about you, Miss Granger? Are you planning on leaving the castle at any point?’

‘Evening after Christmas’, she nodded. ‘If I may. I’m meeting everyone in Hogsmeade.’

‘Very well’, McGonagall nodded. ‘If your plans should change, please do tell me. You might be of age, but you’re still in my care.’

Neither of them disagreed with that, and McGonagall was gone, leaving Draco awkwardly looking at Hermione. She sat him down at the table and spend the next hour marveling in the fact that Draco liked to read fantasy and science fiction muggle books, and a little bit of historical ones, the mortal wars fascinated him. Hermione did her best to recommend books, and Draco wrote them all down.

**∆∆∆**

Hermione woke up close to noon the next day and didn’t bother changing out of pajamas when she made her way to the Grand Hall. The few teachers left at school didn’t bat an eye, but Draco looked like he swallowed something fowl.

‘Those are the most ridiculous pajamas I have ever seen.’

They were, Hermione had to admit. Bright orange with tiny gray elephants on them. Still, she didn’t give him the satisfaction.

‘I don’t think I’ve told you before’, she said, ‘but the thing that shocked me the most about you this year is the fact that you’re wearing skinny jeans and trainers.’

Draco snorted. ‘Did you actually think the suits were comfortable?’. In a lower voice, he said: ‘Or that I had any choice but to wear them?’

‘Well’, Hermione said diplomatically, ‘this whole vaguely punk look suits you.’

And it did, it really did. It brought out his features in ways not even a perfectly fitted suit did and he changed his hair too. It was now longer on the top and a lot shorter on the sides, which was a haircut pretty popular in the muggle world, and it suited him perfectly. There was just one thing.

‘You’d look even better if you’d gain some color back. And without those dark bags under your eyes.’

He quickly averted his gaze, not saying anything.

‘Have you tried Madam Pomfrey’s potion?’

Draco nodded. ‘It works well enough, but not for long.’

Hermione sighed. 

‘I am a bit better, though’, he added in a very whispered voice. ‘Trust me on that.’

She didn’t say anything else, just nodded meekly and grabbed for her pumpkin juice. But their breakfast was soon interrupted by mail. Hermione got her weekly letters from Harry and Ron, and Draco got a letter as well.

He read it silently with a small, sad smile on his face. When he saw that she was watching him, he sighed.

‘It’s from my mother.’

‘How is she?’, Hermione asked, gently.

Draco shrugged. ‘She’s dealing with it.’

Hermione didn’t prompt him for more, but Draco sighed, that resigned sigh he awlways made in her presence, before he started talking again.

‘We decided to sell the Manor. These past few months, Aurors have been in an out cataloguing all the artifacts my father kept. They took them away, thankfully. Mother just told me she found an apartment in London.’

That had Hermione pausing. ‘An apartment?’

Draco shrugged again. ‘It’s going to be a welcomed change, I think. It’s fairly large, because we’re still Malfoys’, he rolled his eyes. ‘And father-’, he swallowed, ‘will be back eventually.’

Hermione wanted to change the subject, quickly.

‘How did your mother manage to find the apartment? I mean, isn’t she in house arrest?’

Draco snorted. ‘She has friends, you know. Granted, few of them, these days, but one of them was willing to help.’

‘I always get excited about interior decorating’, Hermione admitted. ‘It’s why I love the Burrow so much. Because it’s a mess of styles and personalities.’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Believe it or not, mother is the same. I expect next week she’ll start asking questions about how to decorate my room.’

They were silent for a while after that, but Hermione felt… alright. Sitting in front of Draco Malfoy, talking about his mother and …

‘Hey, Draco’, she said before she could stop herself. She also leaned in and lowered her voice to a playful whisper. ‘Are you up for some mischief?’

He narrowed his eyes. ‘What sort of mischief?’

‘The muggle kind’, Hermione grinned. ‘I brought my laptop and found a spell to make it’s battery last forever.’

‘Alright’, he said slowly, clearly not following her. 

‘I still want to go to the library for a couple of hours’, Hermione went on, ‘but how about I come over tonight and we watch a movie?’

‘I know what those are, yes’, he said slowly. ‘What sort of movie?’

‘Have you ever seen Star Wars?’, Hermione grinned, and as soon as she uttered the words ‘space’ and ‘aliens’, she knew she got him. 

**∆∆∆**

When she arrived in the Slytherin common room, Draco was waiting for her. 

There was a couch pulled out and set up with a variety of pillows and blankets, there were snacks and bottles of butterbeer and Draco was frowning at her.

‘I’m overdressed’, he stated, and it was true, considering Hermione was wearing a jumper on top of her pajamas.

He urged him to go change while she set her laptop up, and she had to fight back a smile when Draco appeared in a pair of plaid bottoms and a tshirt with pumpkin juice stains on it.

It was fairly awkward, lying down on the makeshift bed with Draco by her side, but the laptop was set between their feet and he was quick to become completely focused on the movie. 

Hermione just watched him for a while, feeling only slightly bad about it.

It was the first time she saw him in a sleeveless shirt and it wasn’t the muscles that drew her attention, but the prominent veins. Her eyes lingered on the Death Eater scar, that was down to a light silver mess of lines now. Still, she couldn’t help but think that it was something big, that Draco had it on display. 

He worried her. She knew he wasn’t sleeping, but his waist was still too slim and his lips were too dry and she couldn’t even remember how he looked like without the dark circles under his eyes.

Hermione fell asleep without realizing it, because she woke up hours later, to Draco gently poking her arm.

‘You were snoring too loud, I wasn’t able to hear the movie anymore’.

She scoffed, surprised to see the end credits of the second film rolling.

‘Well?’, her voice came out a bit scratchy. ‘Did you like it?’

‘There’s more, right?’, he said quickly, an unfamiliar spark in his eyes. It was excitement, Hermione realized. 

‘I can come back tomorrow night, if you want.’

‘I want’, he said even quicker, before scolding his expression into something less excited. ‘I’d like that, Granger.’

Hermione left with a smile on her face.

**∆∆∆**

That’s how they spent their next evening. Hermione didn’t fall asleep this time, so she was there to ask any question Draco had. They agreed to only watch a movie of night, but they spent a lot of time talking.

She… damn it, she liked being around Draco, around this Draco. The one interested in Muggle things, the one who was still sarcastic as hell but never once insulted her anymore. The one who didn’t mind when their shoulders brushed and the one who still called her ‘Granger’, but always smiled when he said it.

Draco made a point to walk her back to her room whenever the opportunity arose, like the gentleman he was raised to be. Now, however, they both froze when they realized McGonagall was standing right in front of them as they left the Slytherin common room.

The teacher’s eyes quickly scanned them. Their pajamas, their ruffled hair, their sleepy eyes, Hermione’s bag over her shoulder.

‘Merlin’s beard’, McGonagall said, annoyed. ‘You better have used  _ sepio _ .’

Hermione didn’t recognize the spell, but Draco clearly did, because he spluttered, blushed a deep red and took three steps away from her.

‘It’s not like that’, he managed to screech.

‘What is that spell, Professor?’, Hermione frowned. ‘I’m not familiar with it.’

McGonagall turned shocked eyes to her. ‘Really?’

Hermione shook her head. 

‘It’s a protection charm’, McGonagall said slowly. ‘For safe sex.’

Draco spluttered some more, and Hermione blushed, but really, she was more curious than embarrassed.

‘What sort of protection? Against unwanted pregnancy or against disease?’

‘This is not happening’, Draco said in a high pitched voice, being completely ignored by the two woman.

‘You really haven’t stumbled upon these in your research?’, McGonagall asked. ‘You parents wouldn’t have thought you, of course, but… Really?’

Hermione shrugged. ‘I think Mrs. Weasley tried to tell me once. But we got interrupted.’

McGonagall tilted her head, but said nothing more.

‘Professor?’, Hermione said, willing her blush down. ‘We really were just watching a movie on my laptop’, she pointed at her bag. 

Draco spluttered again.

McGonagall looked to him, albeit briefly. ‘That’s painfully clear, my dear.’

‘We didn’t do anything wrong’, Hermione said next. ‘I’m allowed to be in the common rooms.’

McGonagall nodded. ‘Technically, you’re also allowed to sleep in the common rooms. And I suggest you do so tonight’, her eyes skipped to Draco, ‘I fear he’s going to dream about this moment and choke in his sleep.’

Hermione laughed at that, and McGonagall joined in, while Draco was rhythmically bashing his head against the wall, hiding his face in his hands.

After the professor left, Hermione gently pulled away Draco’s hands from his face. 

‘I wouldn’t mind sleeping here’, was all she said.

It took a few long, long moments of Draco scanning her face, but in the end, he nodded.

Hermione felt awkward once again, but she didn’t dwell on it. She took the already pulled out couch and snuggled into the pillows, very aware of Draco settling on the couch next to her.

The lights turned themselves off and Hermione closed her eyes, listening to the sound of Draco's breathing.

‘Granger’, he whispered a couple of minutes later. ‘This is impossible.’

‘What is?’, she replied in the same tone.

‘You, me, here.’

She couldn’t help it, she started laughing. ‘It is’, Hermione agreed. ‘But it’s not bad.’

‘It’s not?’, he sounded painfully unsure. 

‘Sleepovers are a rite of passage between friends.’

‘Merlin’s beard’, Draco breathed out. ‘You really are my friend.’

She said nothing to this.

‘It’s not bad’, Draco finally said, sounding a bit more sure. ‘It’s not.’

Hermione smiled, and yawned, making Draco snort.

‘Goodnight’, he said with a gentleness that was foreign. Still, it didn’t stop Hermione from returning it.

**∆∆∆**

She didn’t ask the next night, or the one after that, she just fell asleep on the couch. 

On Christmas morning, she woke up with the sun because Draco was screaming. Hermione had her wand out in an instant, and the lights turned themselves on, bright enough for her to see that there wasn’t any threat.

Draco just screamed himself awake because of a nightmare.

He stopped screaming and rushed to the bathroom. Hermione followed him, waiting outside of the door. He looked horrible when he came out and he couldn’t meet her eyes. 

Hermione knew how to deal with nightmares. Everyone of her friends was subjected to them (herself included), and having spent the summer in the Burrow, it was something she was accustomed to. She wasn’t so accustomed to Draco, though, so she took a few moments to gather her strengths.

But when she hugged him, it felt right. Draco was stiff in her arms, but at least he didn’t push her away.

‘Please don’t’, he whispered. ‘I don’t deserve this.’

Her heart broke then. Hermione hugged him tighter, pushing her face into the crook of his neck. She had to stand on her tiptoes because of his height, but she didn’t mind.

‘You do in my eyes’, she said, not surprised that she meant it completely. 

‘Damn it’, he whispered before wrapping his arms around her as well.

No other words were said, and Draco was the first one to pull away, but Hermione let him.

‘Do they happen often?’, she asked.

He shook his head. ‘Not as bad as this.’

‘Alright.’, Hermione nodded, before dragging him back to her bed, pulling out her laptop.

‘Star Wars?’, he asked.

‘Cat videos’, Hermione said with authority, making him frown deeply.

Still, they spent the next hours watching funny animal videos, until Hermione left to get ready for breakfast.

**∆∆∆**

The spot at the table Hermione usually sat at during the break was already filled with presents, and she already knew exactly what she’d find in them. A bag of muggle candy from her parents, another H jumper from Mrs Weasley (it was light blue this year), books from Harry and Ron (they were muggle romance novels about vampires and werewolves, and Harry wrote that Ron got kicked out of the bookstore, he was laughing so hard), some sort of girly thing from Ginny (a lipstick), some sort of botany thing from Neville (a cute little succulent plant), something weird from Luna (a necklace shaped as oranges that smelled of roses). 

Draco had gifts as well. His mother sent him a large package of books, Hermione was glad to recognize a couple she had recommended; and Haylee sent him a hat that was clearly crocheted by her. 

When the food appeared on the table, so did a small little christmas tree. Hermione cooed out loud, while Draco slowly pushed it out of the way, so that they could still see each other.

McGonagall interrupted them halfway through breakfast.

Draco was quick to sit up and hold out his hand, helping her sit down next to him on the bench.

The professor wished them a quick Merry Christmas, but it was clear that she was there on business. Still, she took the time to get herself a cup of coffee. When she saw the way Hermione was eyeing it, she summoned one for her as well, offering Draco coffee as well, who politely refused.

‘Look, kids’, McGonagall started. ‘After our… discussion yesterday, I had an idea. We should offer this type of information to our students, shouldn’t we?’

Draco was about the color of a fire hydrant, which Hermione was sure could be said for her as well, but she tried her best to keep her head straight. 

‘Are you talking about sex ed?’

McGonagall frowned at that, Draco asked to be excused from this conversation (he didn’t leave, though) so Hermione did her best to say what she knew about the muggle concept. Just one class, to explain different ways of safe practice, to explain why these practices are needed, the diseases and the complications that can occur. The issue of consent and various sexualities.

McGonagall clicked her tongue. ‘I’ll get Madam Pomfrey to do some research. Would you be willing to look over her notes? You are the only students here right now and I think your opinion will be valuable.’

Hermione was quick to agree to that, and Draco reluctantly did so as well.

‘Professor’, she said, ‘it might be a good idea to split the students up. Girls and boys. And have Madam Pomfrey talk to the girls and a man to talk to the boys?’

She was quick to nod before turning to Draco.

‘Do you think wizarding children should be involved? Or just the muggle-born?’

Draco winced and blushed again, but in the end he nodded. ‘I don’t think it would be a bad thing if some students heard the information twice. I mean, it’ll be less awkward than hearing it from their parents, that’s for sure.’

‘Alright, it’s settled then’, McGonagall said strongly. ‘Thank you for your help.’

The professor didn’t leave, though, she just kept drinking her coffee and regarding the two of them curiously.

‘I see Molly still finds the time to knit’, she finally said, making Hermione grin. 

‘It’ll be a tremendously dark day when Mrs. Weasley stops knitting our sweaters.’

McGonagall hummed, before turning to Draco.

‘And what in Merlin’s name have you got on your head?’

He seemed affronted. ‘Haylee made it for me, I’m not taking it off anytime soon.’

She snorted at that, before her expression turned quickly into one Hermione wasn’t able to describe properly, just thought of it as The Post-War Look.

‘Children’, the professor sighed. ‘I’m so incredibly glad you’re here. And I don’t mean just back in school, but…’, she looked to Draco. 

‘I know’, he swallowed tightly. ‘I know what you mean.’

McGonagall regarded him somewhat softly, but her voice spoke of her position of authority.

‘It’s clear that you and Miss Granger are getting along, but how are the other students treating you?

Draco looked uncomfortable, but he did answer.

‘Indifference, mostly. It’s a lot better than I expected.’, he sighed. ‘The old DA group is … nice.’

‘And Haylee is lovely’, Hermione felt the need to add, because she knew it would bring a smile on Draco’s smile.

And it did. ‘I thought the Sorting Hat went mad’, he admitted in a loud whisper. ‘I thought everyone else will go mad and’, he looked up at the teacher, something fierce in his eyes. ‘I was fully prepared to fight. To protect her.’

McGonagall frowned. ‘Is she having trouble with the other students?’

Draco shook his head. ‘No. It’s… incredible. It’s… The Slytherin house has been in the gutter for decades, from where everyone else was standing, and it was fully tainted by the war. But seeing Haylee thrive even if she’s a muggle Slytherin, even if I’m her only other house mate, I… it’s incredible, Professor. It’s... ‘, he looked away. ‘More than I could have ever dreamed of.’

‘That’s good, Draco’, the teacher said strongly. ‘It’s something that needed to happen, for the sake of future generations. It might just be her now, but I’m certain there will be more Slytherins in the future.’

The discussion died down after that, but Hermione could see that Draco was still struggling. She voiced an idea she woke up with, even if she didn’t get a chance to talk to him about it yet.

‘Professor, may we leave tonight? The cinema in my hometown is always showing Christmas movies, and Draco would like to see a film in a proper cinema, not just on my laptop.’

McGonagall huffed. ‘And I assume you’d visit your parents as well?’

‘No’, Hermione looked away. ‘They’re in France for the holidays and… still slightly crossed with me. I thought it would be best to give them space.’

‘Why are they crossed with you?’, Draco frowned.

‘I erased their memories of me before I left to search for the Horcruxes.’

Draco’s jaw all but dropped. Thankfully, McGonagall interrupted whatever he wanted to say.

‘You have my permission, but be back by midnight.’, she turned to Draco. ‘And if you wish to visit your mother, don’t tell me about it. I shouldn’t know of it.’

Draco was quick to nod, and McGonagall left them soon after.

‘A movie, huh?’, Draco said, biting on his lower lip.

‘A change of scenery will be nice’, Hermione shrugged, unperturbed. 

‘Still looks like a date, Granger’, he teased next, making her huff.

‘Most things look like that when done in twos.’

‘I’d like to visit my mother.’, he said next. 

‘Of course, I’ll be more than happy to leave you to it.’

Draco frowned, but didn’t say much else.

**∆∆∆**

Draco looked very out of place in the tiny cinema in Hermione’s town, and he frowned deeply when she purchased the tickets.

‘Had you said anything about this sooner, I would have brought muggle money.’

‘That’s alright’, she shrugged. ‘I’ll let you get the next butterbeer.’

He seemed fine with that, and then he seemed even more out of place when they actually stepped into the cinema. 

Draco yelped when the lights turned off, which Hermione was set to never stop teasing him about, and then the movie started.

_ A Christmas Carol  _ was one of her favorites so she was quickly absorbed in it, forgetting that she wanted to see Draco’s reactions.

‘That was an experience’, he said as they made their way out. ‘I liked it.’

‘I’m glad’, Hermione said, unsure of how she was supposed to proceed next.

‘Can we go see Mother now?’, Draco asked easily, making Hermione stop walking.

‘ _ We? _ ’

Draco blinked at her, before frowning. ‘It’s alright if you don’t want to join me. I mean, she’s still at the Manor, that will most likely bring out back memories for you.’

‘I… didn’t even think of that. I just thought you wouldn’t want me there.’

Surprisingly, Draco blushed, slightly. ‘I wrote to her about you, Granger. She won’t mind you being there.’

‘But won’t you?’, Hermione screeched. 

Draco threw her a look, one of those superior I-know-better looks. ‘I’ve been spending all my evenings with you lately. Why should this one be any different?’

With that, he grabbed a hold of her hand and before she could figure out what was happening, they were apparating on the doorsteps of Malfoy Manor.

Draco let go of her hand and stood to the side, letting her alone in front of the door.

‘Ring the bell, will you?’, he said with a smirk on his lips. ‘I didn’t tell her I was coming.’

Hermione giggled, but did as asked and when Narcissa Malfoy opened the door, the younger woman’s features were scolded into something neutral.

‘Herm-Miss Granger!’, Narcissa exclaimed. ‘What are you doing here, has something happened to Draco?’

‘There has, actually’, Hermione faked being apologetic. ‘You see, he asked Headmistress McGonagall if he could visit you tonight and-’

‘He’s not allowed’, Narcissa sighed. ‘I know.’

‘Yes, well’, Hermione looked to the side, to see Draco grinning and nodding. 

‘What she doesn’t know won’t really hurt her, will it?’

Narcissa frowned at that, and Hermione finally smiled, taking a step back.

When Draco came into view, Narcissa promptly started crying.

‘You idiot’, she breathed out, ‘get in here, I can’t hug you if you’re outside.’

Draco snorted at that, but he also grabbed a hold of Hermione’s hand and dragged her inside the foyer. She closed the door behind them, and when she turned around, the two Malfoys were hugging strongly. Draco was taller than his mother, which seemed to please her during this particular hug, but the woman was still crying.

‘Mother. I come all the way out here and this is how you act? We have guests, you know.’

Hermione punched him in the back. It didn’t do much, considering all the layers of clothes he was wearing, but it still made him snort. And it made Narcissa separate herself from Draco and delicately wipe her face.

‘Can you stay? For some tea, at least?’

‘Untill midnight’, Draco nodded.

‘Mrs. Malfoy’, Hermione said, ‘I’ll be on my way, I don’t-’

‘Nonsense’, the older woman went as far as taking her hand. ‘Come on, dear, a cup of tea will do us all some good.’

Hermione couldn’t fight against the hold Narcissa had over her and she only partially wanted to. So she let herself be dragged away, thankfully in a different part of the house than what she had already seen. 

The drawing room they settled in was surprisingly cosy and when Draco made her sit in the armchair closest to the fire she was grateful. A house elf did bring them tea and biscuits, and Draco and his mother sat together on a couch and they just… chatted.

Mostly about how Draco was doing at school. He started talking about his classes, but Narcissa quickly dismissed it, saying she already knew how smart her child was. So Draco started talking about Haylee and about Hermione. 

Honestly, she blushed every time Draco said her name. Partially because of the fact that he actually said her name,  _ Hermione _ , which he never called her to her face, but also because of the fact that he said it often.

She kept forcing this friendship onto him, Hermione knew that. But it was only this moment when it hit her, that they were in fact  _ friends _ . They had inside jokes and rituals they did together, she has slept in his room every night the past week. 

Sure, it was because of circumstances, that they spent all this time together. They were the only ones at school, but this started before that and she couldn’t help but hope it will continue after it as well.

Hermione was brought out of her thoughts when Draco excused himself to gather some books from the library. 

Narcissa kneeled in front of Hermione’s chair and held both her hands in hers. There were tears in the older woman’s eyes, but a smile on her lips.

‘Thank you’.

Hermione shook her head.

‘No, please let me say this. Thank you, Miss Granger, for I have not seen my son smile this much since he was 8 years old and still wanted a puppy.’

‘It’s not just me’, Hermione smiled back. ‘It’s Haylee too, and the other students-’

‘A mother knows’, Narcissa said with a smirk, in a certain tone that made Hermione blush furiously.

‘It’s not like that’, she managed to say.

‘I know that as well’, Narcissa laughed. ‘Still… After all the harm my family has caused you’, she very pointedly grabbed a hold of Hermione’s left arm, right over her mudblood scar that still hurt some nights, ‘I can’t believe you still possess the strength to befriend my son.’

‘It was hard’, Hermione latched onto the last part of the sentence, ‘because he is stubborn but… It wasn’t a hardship. It’s not.’

Narcissa smiled wildly at that, but didn’t get to say what she wanted because Draco came back into the room.

‘What’s going on?’, he narrowed his eyes upon seeing the women’s position.

The older woman graciously righted herself and regarded her son with a teasing smile.

‘Oh, just girl talk.’

‘Yeah?’, Draco raised an eyebrow. ‘Did she tell you about how she convinced McGonagall to teach students sex spells?’

‘Hey!’, Hermione yelped. ‘I didn’t convince her of anything! And you are just as much at fault as I am.’

‘Well’, Narcissa said slowly. ‘I’m sure this is an interesting story.’

Draco went on to tell it, and to Hermione’s horror, he didn’t even pause before telling his mother about how she was in his common room and how she spent the nights after that there. Narcissa didn’t have any reaction to it, except for a smirk.

Hermione willed her blush away and grabbed herself another cup of tea. 

Midnight came sooner than she thought, and Draco was once again hugging his mother tightly. She didn’t cry this time, but it was a close thing.

Then, Narcissa turned to Hermione.

‘Had I know you were dropping by, I would have got you a Christmas gift.’

Hermione smiled. ‘Had Draco let me, I would have at least brought you a bottle of wine.’

Narcissa turned her head to Draco. ‘Please, will you? I don’t have my wand anymore, and you’ve always been better at it than me.’

Draco shook his head, a little amused, but he did pull out his wand and pointed it at Hermione. 

She didn’t feel anything though, for a couple of seconds of Draco waving his wand around, but then Hermione felt a small weight on top of her head. Upon further inspection, it was a beautiful flower crown made out of bright red roses. 

Hermione kind of loved it, and it probably showed on her face, because Narcissa seemed pleased and Draco was shaking his head, smiling a bit.

‘You know, Draco’, his mother said, ‘if your father would find out your best friends are not one’, he pointed at Hermione, ‘but two muggle girls, I’m sure he would be very crossed with you.’

The smile left Draco’s face. ‘Mother’, he said slowly, ‘I don’t give a rat’s ass.’

Narcissa snorted, very unlady like. ‘Me neither’, she turned to Hermione. ‘You’re welcome to our home any time, my dear. It’ll be a more’, she waved around the Manor, ‘pleasurable one, I assure you.’

By the time they apparated in the middle of the Slytherin common room, Hermione was still blushing. Draco mumbled a soft ‘wait here’ and went towards his bedroom, leaving Hermione to take off her coat and safely place the flower crown on a table. 

Draco returned with a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, and Hermione stared at them for a beat too long.

‘You’re swaying on your feet, Granger’, he sounded amused. ‘No way you’re making your way back to your room for pajamas.’

Hermione nodded and made her way to the bathroom. She only felt slightly awkward putting on Draco’s clothes, but they were comfortable and he was right, she was exhausted.

Her bed was already made from the night before, and she collapsed onto it, mumbling a barely heard ‘thank you’ when Draco covered her with a couple of blankets. 

**∆∆∆**

There wasn’t a New Years party at school, not really. Most of the teachers were off campus, so Hermione and Draco spent the night with Hagrid, in his hut.

Draco was apprehensive of the giant at first, but Hagrid wasn’t, not at all, so Hermione saw the Slytherin mellowing down throughout the late dinner.

Come midnight, Hermione popped open the mini-fireworks she got from George on that first Hogsmeade trip and Hagrid produced mistletoe out of nowhere and promptly kept it hanging between the two students heads.

‘Hagrid’, Draco sighed, ‘I trusted you’. 

He didn’t mean it, though, Hermione could hear it in his tone. So she wasn’t exceptionally surprised when Draco kissed her forehead. It was a friendly gesture, something she often received from Harry and various Weasley boys. 

Still, it brought attention to the impossibility of it.

Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, friends. For real.

He must have been thinking the same thing, because he started laughing hysterically and pushed his face to her shoulder.  

**∆∆∆**

The new year brought back everyone at school, it brought back classes and homework, study sessions and patrols for both Hermione and Draco.

It brought a lot of stares from fellow students, because the relationship between Hermione and Draco has changed quite a bit during the holidays, and everyone saw it clearly, though nobody understood it.

It also brought a sense of longing, because Hermione forgot how to sleep in the Head Girl chambers.

‘You know’, Draco told her one day as they were making their way towards Potions, ‘I don’t think Haylee would mind if you would move in with us.’

Hermione gulped. ‘I think I’d have to ask McGonagall for that.’

‘I think she might just say yes’, Draco shrugged.

Surprising Hermione, McGonagall did, in fact, say yes. 

‘I won’t allow it, though, if the two of you have actually started sleeping together.’

Hermione took a deep breath. 

‘We have been sleeping together for the entire Christmas holiday.’

McGonagall’s jaw dropped. 

‘Because it helps us with the nightmares’, Hermione went on, ‘waking up and knowing someone else is in the room, someone who understands.’

‘You just gave me a heart attack, young lady’, McGonagall said somewhat sternly. ‘I’ll ask the elves to move your things, but you should be the one to alert your Head Boy and the Prefects.’

She did alert them at the next meeting, and Neville dropped the book he was holding and the girl from Ravenclaw was the first one to say an understanding ‘oh’, as she was staring at Draco.

‘Why?’, Neville finally asked. ‘Why did you do that?’

‘Long story short?’, Hermione tilted her head. ‘My nightmares hate the fact that I was sleeping alone.’

‘So you decided to sleep with Malfoy?’, the boy from Ravenclaw said in a joke. 

Draco interrupted Hermione’s answer. ‘There was no way we were getting out of this without horrendously bad sex jokes.’

‘Speaking of’, Hermione smirked. ‘Should we tell them about the additional class McGonagall is planning now or later?’

And thus, the information that Hogwarts will be having sex ed was far more interesting than the Gryffindor Head Girl moving into the Slytherin dormitories. 

Ginny was the only one to further comment on it. ‘I just want you to promise me, that if you ever see Malfoy naked, I will be the first one to know and I will know  _ everything _ ’.

Hermione laughed at that, even if she flushed from head to toe. 

**∆∆∆**

Spring went by in a haze of homework and classes, of late nights spent in the Slytherin common room, weekends spent alternating between Hogsmeade with the DA crew and the castle courtyard with the two Slytherins.

Draco and Hermione didn’t spent as much time alone together as they did during Christmas, because Haylee was there now most of the times, and since seeing just how well Hermione got along with Draco, her other friends tried to accept him as well.

It was working, somewhat. Things were still awkward, but Draco was able to laugh about it now. 

Hermione’s room was next to Draco’s, so they heard each other's screams pretty easily. Nightmares so bad were rarer now, for both of them, but when they did happen, they ran to each other. They’d stay with the other one until sleep took them again, and they’d never mention anything about it in the morning.

March brought the start of Dueling Club, version 2.0. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was a 30 years old hipster who came to school with Ramones and Nirvana tshirts and always,  _ always _ wearing a leather jacket. He wasn’t a bad teacher, per say, he was just so very… young. And obnoxious. Still, McGonagall gave him free reigns over the club.

‘We should start with a demonstration, right?’, he began. ‘Someone who actually knows how to duel.’

Hermione and Neville shared a look, fully expecting their teacher to pick the Head Boy and Girl. He didn’t.

‘Malfoy, why don’t you step up?’

Draco said nothing, but he did make his way up the podium, grabbing his wand and absently twirling it. He didn’t look incredibly threatening, in his cut up jeans and a simple black henley that was wrinkled and frayed around the edges. He looked positively bored.

‘Any volunteers?’, the teacher asked and nobody even  _ moved _ .

‘Well that’s surprising’, Draco said after a very awkward silence. ‘I thought you’d all be racing to have my neck.’

Neville snorted on a laugh, because for some reason, he seemed to love Draco’s self-deprecating humor.

Hermione huffed and pushed her way to the podium. It made Draco grin.

‘Of course, Granger. You never could turn down a challenge.’

‘No, I just really want to have a go at your neck’, she said as innocently as possible. 

All teasing aside, they both went to the ritualistic start of the duel, illustrating it properly for the students. But they didn’t shoot yet. 

‘Professor’, Hermione said. ‘Are we supposed to use verbal spells?’

The guy snorted. ‘What else could you use? Swear words?’

‘Non-verbal spells’, Draco frowned, prompting a similar reaction from their teacher.

‘You can do that?’

Neville and Ginny both laughed at that, because they  _ knew _ exactly how well Hermione was at non-verbal spells.

Draco was glaring at their teachers, so Hermione grabbed his attention back.

‘This is an example for the rest of the students, we should probably use verbal spells.’

‘Fine’, Draco nodded easily. He winked at her and started counting.

The first round was won by Hermione, who managed to levitate Draco off the ground. Everyone was laughing, the teacher included. 

Still, he spoke. ‘I don’t think that’s gonna help you a lot in battle.’

‘Of course not’, Hermione snapped at him. ‘But hurting my opponent isn’t the point of this exercise, the point of it is to prove that I could hurt him.’

The teacher had no answer to that, but Draco did.

‘What about my feelings, Granger? Don’t you care about the fact that you hurt my feelings?’

Neville lost it laughing, again. A couple of fifth year Ravenclaws joined in.

Hermione simply lifted an eyebrow. ‘Best out of three.’

Once again, Draco just started counting.

He got the upper hand this time, choosing to give Hermione a makeover, turning her hair into a fire red to match the Weasley's. There were a lot of laughs going around, but Hermione didn’t like it at all, so she quickly turned it back to her usual mess.

‘Last one, Granger’, Draco taunted.

‘You’re going down’, Hermione laughed, adrenaline coursing through her veins. It had been a long time since the DA, since dueling was fun. And she had never tried it with Draco before. She wasn't even surprised that she was enjoying herself.

Neville interrupted Draco’s countdown with a request for them to do this with nonverbal spells.

‘Cause not everyone here has seen you in action. You know,  _ closely _ .’

Hermione laughed at that, but their teacher said an unperturbed ‘Sure, why not?’

When Draco looked at her, she could see the excitement clear in his eyes. She also saw him lick his bottom lip, which was only mildly distracting.

‘Guys’, Draco said around a smirk, not looking away from Hermione, ‘you might want to take a step back.’

All the students who were around the podium did that.

‘And maybe another one’, Hermione added and she was obeyed.

They wordlessly took their positions and it was Neville that counted this time.

Draco’s spell wasn’t green, like she expected, but a silver color, not light but not dark either. Her spell was bright red, and they met in the middle.

It took… a long while. It drained Hermione’s strength, but she didn’t stand down. Draco didn’t either. 

She felt it coming to an end, though, and she wasn’t strong enough.

The spell hit her in the center of the chest, and she froze, unwillingly, her arms and legs snapping close together. Draco used  _ Petrificus Totalus _ . Just as Hermione felt herself falling backwards, he yelled  _ Arresto Momentum,  _ which promptly stopped her fall.

Her was beside her in a second, placing his hands on her back before asking the teacher to perform the counter-curse. Luna got there faster.

Hermione fell into Draco’s arms, only slightly out of breath.

‘Neville’, she gulped. ‘I am terribly sorry for doing that to you our first year.’

Once again, Neville very inappropriately laughed at that.

‘I didn’t hurt you, did I?’, Draco asked, concern clear.

Hermione shook her head. ‘Just surprised me, I didn’t actually think you’d defeat me like that.’

‘Me neither’, Draco whispered sincerely, before grinning cockily. And thus, the moment was broken, and Hermione shoved as his chest to get herself out of his hold.

The teacher quickly dismissed them, winking obnoxiously and telling them to go gather their strengths. Hermione was glad to be out of there, really, and she wasn’t planning on coming back.

Draco wordlessly followed her out to the courtyard, but once they sat down, he fixed her with a glare.

‘You let me win.’

‘I did not!’, Hermione cried, indignant. ‘I would never do that!’

Draco narrowed his eyes, making her huff.

‘Once, during the DA, I wiped the floor with Ron, even if I was crushing on him at that moment.’

Draco paused for only half a second. ‘I can’t believe I actually beat you at something.’

‘Be a gentleman, Draco’, Hermione snapped, even if it wasn’t forceful. ‘Don’t rub it in.’

‘Fine, fine’, he snickered. ‘I’ll be a gentleman. I’ll buy you a butterbeer next Hogsmeade weekend.’

‘Deal’, Hermione was quick to agree. 

What was surprising, though, was that they actually sat down in The Three Broomsticks while the place was swarming with other students. Some of them said hello. Some of them just winked at them. Others stared.

Neville and Luna sat down with them and they chatted easily, until Draco said he should probably head back because he promised Haylee he’ll help with some homework. Hermione didn’t even think before following him.

So she completely missed the  _ look  _ Neville and Luna shared.

**∆∆∆**

They were both going home for the two weeks Easter holiday. Draco had to help his mother decorate and Hermione’s parents asked her to come home so they could fix things.

On the train ride, she sat in a compartment with Draco, Neville and Luna, Ginny and sometimes Haylee.

If anyone were to ask her about her final year at Hogwarts in a couple of years, this is the answer that Hermione thinks she’ll give. These five people. Weekly letters from Harry and Ron. The Slytherin common room.

It was so very different than what she expected when she set foot into Hogwarts in september, but she did achieve her purpose. She overwrote the ugly memories of war darkening the Hogwarts corridors.

She hugged everyone before they left, but Draco lingered. Of course he did.

‘Could I write?’, he frowned. ‘To you, I mean.’

Hermione sniggered. ‘You better.’

‘Right’, Draco smiled absently. ‘You could visit, I mean, I’m sure my mother would want to see you again. And maybe ask your opinion on kitchen furniture.’

‘Well’, Hermione fought back a laugh. ‘You should totally write to me about that.’

‘Of course’, Draco nodded, before clearly debating something with himself.

In the end, he kissed her forehead again, this time tangling his fingers lightly in her curls. He smiled at her one more time before leaving without another word.

**∆∆∆**

> _ Granger, _ __  
>  _ Sorry I haven’t written earlier, but the past week has been mental. Like I care if my wall color matches the rug, seriously!!? _ __  
>  _ Anyway. The apartment is coming along... nicely. There are just a few minor tweeks my mother feels she should make. _ __  
>  _ So please, consider this your official invitation to stop by anytime you wish! We’ll be here. _ __  
>  _ But please, don’t feel obligated to actually show up. Only if you have the time and the mood for it. _ _  
>  _ _ I hope you have a great holiday, _ _  
>  _ __ D. Malfoy.

**∆∆∆**

> _Dear Draco,_   
>  _Does Tuesday work for you and your mother? I’ll come for a proper tour of the place and a cup of tea. I’ll also bake some cupcakes because, quite frankly, there’s only so much NEWT studying one can do before losing one’s sanity._ _  
> __Yours,_ _  
> __Hermione_

**∆∆∆**

Hermione arrived at the Malfoy’s address with just a few minutes to spare. It was in one of the nicest parts of London, an apartment building with a playground out the back and a small garden in the front. It was very hard for Hermione to comprehend that Draco and Narcissa were living here, but she supposed things like that shouldn’t surprise her anymore.

As she told Draco, Hermione did bake a batch of cupcakes and she also brought a bottle of wine for Narcissa. Her hands were full, so that’s why she hesitated. 

She hesitated, when her knock on the apartment door was met with a yell from the other side, Draco’s desperate voice screaming “Run away!”.

Still, Hermione reached for her wand. But she didn’t get to do more than grab the wand that was in her pocket. Because then the door opened with a flourish and Hermione was blasted with a spell. 

It didn’t take long to realize that it was  _ Petrificus Totalus _ . But this time, Draco wasn’t there to stop her fall. Hermione hit the ground at full force, and she felt how she hit her head. She couldn’t move, though, couldn’t wince from the pain or scream for help. All she could do was move her eyes.

So she was able to see the man that came out of the apartment. An older man that looked, quite frankly, like a homeless person. He spat on her, snarling in her face. Then he levitated her and took her into the apartment, letting her fall to the floor. She hit her head once again, and the pain was worse this time.

Hermione could see Draco and Narcissa now, kneeling on the ground, with their hands and legs wrapped together and their mouths gagged with what looked like socks. 

‘Stupid Malfoys’, the homeless wizard seethed. ‘You had  _ everything _ , you were by the Dark Lord’s side, and you threw it all away. For what? For some stupid mudbloods’, he kicked Hermione with his foot, drawing a groan out of Draco.

It made the man turn towards him and he kicked Draco, a lot harder then he kicked Hermione. Draco doubled over from the kick in the stomach, the gag falling from his mouth. 

Hermione heard Draco scream and she saw red in front of her eyes. Channelling all the power she could find in her, she repeated  _ Stupefy _ over and over in her head, focusing her hatred on the man. 

Thankfully, it worked. The man fell to the ground, his head on her knee. 

Draco looked at her with wide eyes. ‘Did you do that?’

Hermione blinked, because it was the only thing she could do.

‘Fuck’, Draco gritted out, closing his eyes and pulling his lips taught together. Hermione didn’t know what he was doing, but he was groaning and just as she saw the strain his arms were displaying, Draco’s arms came free from the ropes. 

He sagged to the ground, but didn’t pause before unwrapping his legs as well. He scrambled around the room, picking up his wand, quickly throwing the counter-charm at Hermione.

She groaned, and Draco was there, running his hands all over her shoulders and back, her neck.

‘Are you hurt?’, he asked, quite desperately, a couple of times.

‘No, I’m fine’, Hermione managed to say. ‘Your mother…’

Draco nodded and left her side, going to his mother's side and extending the same treatment to her. Hermione saw them hugging, Draco kissing Narcissa’s temple softly. 

Hermione looked away, feeling like she was intruding. She ran her fingers down her scalp, noticing two bumps. Her fingers came out bloody, too.

She groaned. 

‘Granger’, Draco yelped. He looked a lot more paler when he came to her side again. ‘You’re bleeding.’

‘Head wounds bleed a lot’, was her prompt reply. She didn’t like the frightened look Draco was giving her, so she willed her brain to work.

‘We have to alert someone.’

‘I don’t have think any Aurors will answer my calls’, Narcissa said, dripping sarcasm.

‘They’ll answer mine’, Hermione took her wand, but she hesitated, looking at the older woman.

‘You won’t be comfortable with Harry and Ron knowing where you live.’

It wasn’t a question, but it kind of was. To Hermione’s surprise, Narcissa smiled at that.

‘The Ministry knows, my dear. I don’t have the luxury to mind.’

Hermione looked to Draco at that, who shrugged and nodded. So Hermione conjured her Patronus and sent a message to Harry.

It took less than five minute for him and Ron to storm into the apartment, Kingsley close behind. Harry ran to her while Ron ran to the assaulter.

Hermione tried to assure Harry that she wasn’t hurt, but Draco didn’t keep his mouth shut, telling him that she was bleeding. Harry swore under his breath, but he also pulled out his wand and pointed it to her head, saying two spells that she didn’t recognize. But it made her feel instantly better.

‘Thank you’, she whispered, making Harry grab her head and kiss her on the forehead. 

Then he straightened his shoulders and got up. ‘What happened here?’

Draco took over the explanation, about how the man broke in their apartment and how he wanted to kill them for betraying Voldemort. Thankfully, he needed to make a lenghty speech before, and then Hermione came. 

‘I didn’t think this would happen’, Kingsley said. ‘I thought we had all the Death Eaters on the run. We’ve been catching them and-’

‘I don’t think he’s a Death Eater’, Hermione said. ‘Just an … ordinary follower.’

‘Probably’, Narcissa nodded. ‘I have never seen him before.’

Hermione turned to her. ‘Haven’t you put wards on the apartment?’

She shook her head. ‘My wand was confiscated.’

Hermione turned to glare, somewhat, at Kingsley. 

He tilted his head. ‘It was an omission, by my part. I apologize, Mrs. Malfoy.’

‘Thankfully nobody was too hurt’, Narcissa smiled. ‘My dear, is your head better?’

Draco buried his fingers in her hair, then. He found the bumps and swore colorfully, glaring down at the man who assaulted them.

‘It’s well enough for me to put up wards.’, she turned to look at Kingsley.

‘Very well. I’m sure Mr. Malfoy can help you with that.’

Draco grunted, but it sounded something affirmative. 

Kingsey put a hand on the assaulter’s shoulder, turning to look at Harry and Ron. ‘See you back at the Ministry, as soon as possible.’

He disapparated, leaving the room in an awkward silence, broken by Ron.

‘What were you even doing here?’, he asked Hermione.

‘Oh no’, she realized. ‘I made cupcakes, they must be ruined now.’

Draco snorted, ignoring the weird way Harry and Ron were looking at her. He also made his way to the hallway, picking up Hermione’s bags and looking through them.

‘Well’, he said. ‘Thankfully the wine bottle is still intact.’ He hesitated for half a second before turning to Harry and Ron, awkwardly asking them if they wished to join them for tea.

‘That’d be interesting’, Ron snorted, making Harry elbow his stomach.

‘Thank you, but we have to get back to work’, he said. ‘Some other time, maybe.’

Draco nodded and Narcissa thanked them for their help. Before they left, though, they both threw Hermione a pointed look that she really didn’t think was needed. 

‘You should clean up the blood’, Draco said softly and grabbed Hermione’s hand, guiding her to the bathroom.

She took longer than she needed to, probably, but she had to calm herself down. 

When she went back to the living room, Narcissa was sprawled on a couch, a glass of wine in her hand, and Draco was putting up wards.

Hermione took a deep breath and went to help him.

**∆∆∆**

She did get a tour of the apartment, done by Narcissa. It was a beautiful place, so very different from their last house. Modern, done in mostly cold colors but with splashes of warmth every now and then. 

Mrs. Malfoy didn’t show her Draco’s room, but when they passed a close door that was painted in black with a fancy  _ D _ written in silver, the older woman winked at Hermione.

She spent a couple of hours in the Malfoy’s living room, sipping on wine and hot chocolate, easily chatting with Narcissa and Draco about … pretty mundane topics, really. Hermione had missed Draco in the past week, and really, this was Draco at his finest, at his happiest. Grinning at his mother and sprawled on an armchair, barefoot and with his hair as messy as hers was.

They had lunch in the dining room, and Hermione offered to wash the dishes. Draco didn’t let her do it alone, so they stood side by side by the sync, talking about their upcoming NEWTs. 

‘So’, Hermione ventured when they were done. ‘Are you going to show me your room or is that a girl-free zone?’

Draco snorted. ‘Pretty much, these days’, he mumbled under his breath and Hermione acted like she didn’t understand the undertone. 

‘Come on’, he guided her with a hand on her lower back. ‘I’ll allow you to judge me.’

Hermione glared at him, but Draco just sniggered.

Even though his room was the largest in the apartment, it was very subdued. It was normal. 

The walls were painted a pastel blue, the furniture was mostly steel, the desk, bedside tables and the bookcase that was as large as one of the walls. But the kingsize bed had a gorgeous canopy made out of dark wood, and while the bedsheets were black, they had a design of big, dark red roses. And under the biggest window in the room, there was a plush ottoman with orange, yellow and pink throw pillows.

Draco was already watching her when Hermione turned to him. He looked… apprehensive.

‘Draco’, Hermione said around a smile. ‘I’ve seen you fall out of bed early in the morning, spill tea in your lap and I know you snore. Do you really think there’s anything left for you to do that will prompt me to judge you?’

He tilted his head, glaring a bit. ‘I can think of some things.’

‘Like what?’, Hermione asked.

Suddenly, Draco looked amused. He winked at her, slowly, before suggestively wiggling his eyebrows.

Hermione laughed, punching him in the shoulder. ‘You had to go there, didn’t you?’

Draco sniggered. ‘There’s a pretty girl in my room and my mother’s probably napping by now. How could I not?’

She didn’t answer, opting for rolling her eyes and making her way towards the bookcase. It was very neatly organized. All the school books put on one side of it, the wizarding fictional books in the middle and to the far right, the muggle fiction.

Hermione spent a couple of minutes reading titles and running her fingers over the spines of the books and when she finally turned to the room, Draco was sprawled on his bed, on his front with his head resting on his crossed hands. He was just watching her, has been for a while, probably. 

‘I’d propose to watch a movie’, he said, ‘but my laptop’s supposed to be delivered tomorrow.’

‘Fancy a cup of coffee?’, Hermione smiled.

‘I think there’s some in the kitchen’, Draco frowned.

She just shook her head and urged him to put some shoes on.

A couple of minutes later, Draco was frowning. ‘What’s Starbucks?’

‘The biggest chain of coffee shops in the world’, came Hermione’s prompt response.

A minute later: ‘What is a frappucino? Or a … moc-ca-cino?’. 

Hermione stifled a laugh.

Thirty seconds later: ‘You know, I don’t actually like coffee.’

That made her turn to look at him, slightly horrified. Still, she ordered him a caramel hot chocolate. He startled when the barista yelled his name, but nodded when he saw that it was written on the side of his cup. Hermione urged them outside, because while it wasn’t very warm, the weather was holding, the sun shining brightly for a day in early August.

‘What is it with you and showing me the muggle ways?’, Draco asked once they were seated.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. ‘I wouldn’t bother with it if I didn’t know you were interested.’

‘Am I interested?’, he seemed amused.

‘The amount of Shakespear you have in your bedroom makes it clear. So does the laptop you apparently ordered.’

Draco just hummed at that.  

‘Plus’, Hermione went on. ‘You’re now living in a … painfully muggle neighbourhood. You’re going to have to learn how to blend in.’

‘I like it’, he said, easily. ‘I mean, it’s so very different from before, it’s… a lot easier.’

‘How is your mother, though? Is she handling it as well as she seems to be?’

‘Yes she is’, Draco smiled. ‘It took a while for her to get used to… not having her wand, but she seems… she’s focused. Determined to make it work.’

Like mother, like son, Hermione absently thought. 

‘Speaking of focused’, she went on, lowering her voice. ‘How have the nightmares been?’

Draco shrugged. ‘A bit worse, but I think that’s just because I’m not used to the bed yet.’

Hermione didn’t push and they sipped on their drinks in comfortable silence. He wordlessly guided her to an alleyway afterwards, so she could apparate back home, but Hermione lingered. 

‘Are you doing anything on Thursday?’

Draco raised an eyebrow. ‘Another date, Granger? So soon?’

She huffed. ‘Everybody’s coming over to my house for lunch. If you think you could handle that, and if you want to, of course, I’d…’, she smiled. ‘I’d really like you to be there.’

Draco hesitated, painfully visible. ‘I’ll think about it.’

‘That’s all I ask.’, Hermione kept on smiling. She also hugged him, liking the way Draco didn’t hesitate in hugging her back, and she did the polite thing, of thanking him and his mother for the lovely day. 

**∆∆∆**

> _ Dear Granger, _ __  
>  __ I’m going to need your address if we’re doing this.  
>  Am I supposed to bring anything?  _  
>  _ _ Yours, _ _  
>  _ __ D. Malfoy

**∆∆∆**

Draco was 20 minutes late and she was beginning to think he wouldn’t show up. She hustled around her friends, who were all promptly on time and tried to hide her disappointment.

‘Hermione’, Harry said from near the window. ‘Didn’t your parents drive a Prius?’

She frowned, but nodded.

‘There’s a BMW out front’, Harry went on. ‘Pretty slick, to be honest.’

She made her way to the window just as Draco was getting out of the driver’s seat. He was wearing a pair of jeans with more holes than fabric and a dark blue henley. He seemed to take a deep breath before closing his car and making his way to the front door, where he knocked twice.

‘I didn’t know you can drive’, is what Hermione opened the door with.

Draco just shrugged. ‘I like it.’ He took his hands out from behind his back and Hermione smiled when she saw that he was holding a flower crown, similar to the one she got at Christmas, but this time with light lavender-colored roses.

‘Mother sends her regards’, Draco blushed a bit when he put the crown on her head.

She hugged him briefly before guiding him towards the living room, where everyone was already waiting. Awkward didn’t even begin to explain it.

Draco startled when he heard a bark. Looking down, he frowned at the small puffy dog that was demanding his attention.

‘Granger’, he said, ‘I thought you had a cat.’

‘I have a cat’, Hermione nodded, ‘Mom and Dad have a dog.’

The dog barked again, and promptly started chewing on Draco’s shoelaces.

He sighed. ‘What’s its name?’

‘We just call him Puppy’.

Draco looked at her with a small smirk on his face. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle of firewhiskey. He quickly made an  _ engorgio  _ spell and threw it in Ron’s direction.

‘That’s what I’m talking about’, Ron grinned, not hesitating in getting up and grabbing himself a glass.

Draco snorted, quietly under his breath before he made his way to the wall and sat down on the ground, crossing his legs and letting Puppy climb on them. He started playing with the dog, petting him and pulling his tail, snorting every time the dog barked.

‘This is very weird’, Ginny said. Harry, who was sitting on the couch next to her, snorted. And so did Ron, quickly drinking some whiskey to cover it up.

‘Imagine how it’s looking from my perspective, Weasley.’, Draco pipped up, looking up at Ginny. ‘You’re all staring.’

‘Because you’re letting a puppy lick you neck’, Ginny said incredulously.

Draco shrugged. ‘So this is what you have a problem with? Not the fact that, oh I don’t know’, he snorted sarcastically, ‘the fact that Granger moved in the dungeons? Or the fact that Slughorn is calling us The Unexpected Power Couple? Or the fact that Haylee started calling us Mom and Dad?’

‘You also gave her a flower crown’, Ginny said, still incredulous.

‘No’, Draco snorted. ‘That’s from my mother.’

‘Well that just makes it so much better’, Ginny all but exploded, dripping sarcasm.

‘I can go if you want’, Draco said, ‘but I’m taking Puppy with me.’

Hermione opened her mouth to say that he will do no such thing, but Ginny bit her to it.

‘What I want is to kick your ass at Monopoly.’

‘Me too’, Harry piped up.

‘Me three’, Luna and Neville said at the same time.

‘You brought firewhisky, mate’, Ron said, ‘You’re fine.’

Draco looked at Hermione. ‘What’s Monopoly?’

Hermione started laughing, and everyone else soon followed. Except from Draco, who kept frowning and letting Puppy lick his neck.

**∆∆∆**

The day wasn’t so bad. Not even when Draco and Ron got into a turf over who was cheating at Monopoly, and not even when during charades, Ginny had to mime ‘ferret’ and she did it by pointing at Draco.

All in all, it was alright. There was laughter and harmless teasing and by the end of it, her friends weren’t looking weirdly at her and Draco anymore. 

The boys even shook his hand when they left, and Ginny told him ‘You’re not so bad now that you washed off all the evil.’

Draco lingered, of course he did. After everyone left, he helped Hermione clean up and then he boldly requested to see her bedroom, because ‘turnabout was fair’.

She didn’t fight him, and stood in the doorway while Draco snooped around. He spent some time in front of the bookcases and in front of the collage she had on one of the walls. 

When he was done, Draco grinned and sprawled himself sideways on the bed.

‘This thing is tiny’, he said, as Hermione sat down next to him.

‘It’s not like I need more.’

Draco narrowed his eyes at her. ‘Are you purposefully setting yourself up for bad innuendos, or are you truly this innocent?’

She punched him in the shoulder. Well, she tried to, but Draco grabbed a hold of her wrist and stopped her. He moved until his fingers were wrapped around hers and, still squeezing them tightly, he let them rest on his chest.

Hermione would be lying if she said her heart didn’t sped up. 

It was clear that Draco wanted to say something, probably something big, but he didn’t. He just spent a couple of seconds roaming his eyes all over her face. 

In the end, he rolled his eyes and smirked. ‘You wanna go for a drive?’

Hermione ran downstairs to the sound of Draco laughing.

The BMW was, as Harry said, quite slick. It was a luxurious car, all black leather and silver accents. Draco didn’t start the car until she had the seatbelt on and he even let her choose a radio station.

‘Where do you want to go?’, he asked as they were making their way out of her driveway.

‘Just drive’, Hermione shrugged, not able to think of something. 

He did just that, and he was a surprisingly good driver. Always going a bit under the limit, stopping at crossings and checking the mirrors often. He only sped up when they got to the highway, but even then, it wasn’t too bad.

Draco rolled down the windows and Hermione’s hair was suddenly in her face. He laughed as she struggled with tying it up in a messy bun, and laughed even harder when Hermione turned up the volume on the radio.

They went like that for a while, Hermione didn’t really know how far from home she was, but it had been a while since they passed through a town. Draco pulled over at the side of the road when he had the opportunity to do so. He stopped the car and got out, going as far as coming to her side and holding the door open for her.

Draco leaned against the hood of the car, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Hermione made herself comfortable next to him, bumping their shoulders together.

‘You good?’, she asked softly.

‘Today was nice’, he nodded. ‘Unexpected, but nice.’

‘Unexpected?’

Draco snorted. ‘I was expecting bloodshed, to be honest. At least a couple of hexes.’

Hermione shook her head. ‘They wouldn’t do that.’

He just raised an eyebrow at her, clearly not believing it.

‘They wouldn’t’, she insisted. ‘Cause they’ve figured out you’re important to me, and they wouldn’t dare cross me.’

Draco swallowed thickly at that, looking away.

Hermione ran through the fraze again and realized what she did wrong. ‘I made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry.’

He smiled at her. ‘It’s your special talent, Granger. I got used to it.’

She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

‘I got used to you’, he said next, and Hermione couldn’t help the smug grin that took over her face.

Draco huffed, but he also wrapped his arm around her shoulders, bringing them even closer. 

‘I have to admit’, he mumbled into her hair, ‘it’s not a bad thing.’

Hermione grinned. 

**∆∆∆**

They were silent for most of the ride back to Hermione’s house, and Draco, once again, opened the door for her. 

He looked like he wanted to say something big again, but he froze when a car stopped next to his, his eyes growing wide.

‘Are those your parents?’, he whispered.

Hermione turned to look. They were, indeed, her parents.

‘Fuck’, Draco breathed out, sounding incredibly terrified.

‘It’s fine’, Hermione laughed. ‘Would you relax?’

Her parents made their way to their side, and Draco was sitting very stiffly, with his hands behind his back.

‘I don’t know you’, Hermione’s father said, ‘so you must be Draco.’

His eyes skipped to Hermione’s, but he didn’t let his shock show, even if she knew it was there. ‘It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Granger’, he said politely, shaking the man’s hand. He kissed the back of her mother’s hand, which Hermione knew was going to get him massive points.

Her dad started a conversation about the BMW next, which Draco barely handled.

‘I don’t know much about cars’, he finally admitted. ‘There isn’t much need for them where I come from.’

‘That’s an odd way of putting it’, Hermione’s mother absently said, but nobody addressed it.

‘Then why are you driving one?’, Mr. Granger asked pointedly.

‘I like it’, Draco shrugged. ‘And my mother and I just moved to London, we do have to blend in.’

‘Is he a good driver?’, the older man turned to his daughter.

‘Better than you are’, Hermione blinked innocently.

‘Just for that’, her father glared, ‘you’re walking Puppy tomorrow morning.’

Her parents took their leave after that, Draco bidding them a polite goodbye. But then, he sighed heavily and leaned against his car.

Hermione laughed at that. ‘Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad.’

‘No offence’, Draco pulled a face, ‘but I don’t think I know how to deal with muggles.’

‘Oh I don’t know’, Hermione snorted, ‘that was pretty okay. A lot better then Ron was at the beginning.’

Draco raised a curious eyebrow at that.

‘He called’, Hermione explained, ‘on the phone. He yelled a lot before Harry and I managed to convince him it wasn’t necessary. And he broke like… three coffee makers.’

Draco laughed at that, but he looked tired.

‘Are you going to be okay driving back?’

He nodded. ‘I’ll be fine.’

They just looked at each other. Hermione took a deep breath.

‘Well thank you for today. I really do appreciate it a lot, that you came.’

He shook his head. ‘You can’t even begin to understand how much I appreciate you.’

If he kept saying things like this, Hermione didn’t know how much more she would be able to handle him. 

So she smiled and put a hand on the back of his head, bringing it down enough for her to reach and kiss his forehead. 

‘Drive safely’, she whispered against his skin before kissing it again.

There was a very odd look in his face when she pulled away, and Hermione didn’t really want to analyze it, so she made her way back to the house. 

**∆∆∆**

Later that night, Harry apparated into her room, closed the door and did a silence charm before fixing her with a stern look.

‘I have a question. I want you to answer it, a simple yes or no will do, and I promise I won’t mention it to anyone, and I promise I won’t ever address the issue again.’

Hermione just blinked at him, confused. But she nodded.

‘Are you falling for Malfoy?’

She blinked twice. Looked down at her hands. Took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Looked up at Harry. Bit her lower lip.

‘A little bit.’

Harry sighed. ‘Oh my god.’

‘I’m crazy’, Hermione nodded.

‘I… yeah’, he nodded. ‘I think he is too.’

She shrugged at that, and nothing else was said.

**∆∆∆**

May went by in a blur of too long hours spent studying in the library, too many nights of them falling asleep in the common room surrounded by books.

More than once, Hermione woke up on the floor, with her head on a pillow she didn’t remember grabbing, with a comforter she didn’t cover herself with, with Draco sleeping in a similar position and Haylee snuggled in between them.

On one memorable occasion, she woke up like that late one morning, with McGonagall shaking them awake.

‘What happened?’, she asked sternly. Hermione and Draco were just looking at each other.

‘Well’, Hermione started.

‘You see, Professor’, Draco tried.

‘Mom and Dad fell asleep studying’, Haylee said sleepily. ‘I stayed with them for moral support.’

McGonagall silently mouthed ‘mom and dad’ before turning to Hermione.

‘Miss Granger, when I allowed you to move into the Slytherin dormitories, I said there will be one thing that will very quickly get you banned from here.’

Hermione blushed, but she also sighed. ‘Still not happening, Professor.’

‘Who even has time for dating’, she added under her breath. 

McGonagall huffed and urged them to hurry, they were late for the Prefects meeting.

The Prefects catcalled when they stepped inside McGonagall’s office.

Before Hermione got to yell at them, Draco snorted.

‘Honestly now, do I look like someone who’s getting laid on the regular?’ He paired this with rubbing his hands over his eyes and scratching his scalp, messing up his hair even more than it was before.

‘Five points from Slytherin’, McGonagall said. ‘For being lewd.’

‘Sorry, ma’am.’

‘Five points from Slytherin’, Hermione added. ‘For even  _ thinking  _ about doing that in the dormitory next to mine.’

Draco opened his mouth, and Hermione knew he was going to make a joke, probably a rude on, but McGonagall gave him a gentle slap on the back of the neck.

‘Don’t even think about it, Mr. Malfoy.’

‘Sorry, ma’am’, he said again. ‘Can we get on with this? I think I need coffee.’

McGonagall did get on with the meeting, causing general chaos in the room when she announced that Hogwarts will be having an end of the year school dance.

Hermione shared a look with the Ravenclaw girl Prefect, who was the only other muggle in the room.

‘Hogwarts prom’, Hermione said.

‘Sure’, the other girl nodded. ‘I didn’t get to go to the Yule Ball.’

‘I did’, Hermione grumbled. ‘It was horrible.’

McGonagall pulled them back into the discussion.

A week later, as she was helping Ginny and Luna shop for dresses, they asked if she got a date yet.

‘I’ll find someone’, Hermione said.

Two weeks later, Ginny and Luna barged into the Slytherin common room three hours before prom, stating that they were getting ready together.

Draco looked mildly scared, so Hermione ushered them all to her dormitory. Haylee joined them when her classes were over, coming in with a tray of butterbeer and sandwiches.

‘Draco said we should eat.’

‘That’s sweet of him’, Luna smiled.

Ginny turned to Hermione. ‘Got a date yet?’

She looked to the wall that separated her and Draco’s bedrooms. ‘What do you think?’

Ginny’s jaw dropped.

‘I didn’t think he’d actually have the courage to ask you’, Luna pointed out, making Hermione giggle.

She then started telling the story of how Draco tried to ask her three nights in a row, getting oddly flustered every time. In the end, he snuck her a note in her Potions book.

_ If you say no, I’m not going. I wouldn’t mind that, honestly. _

It was so… typical Draco, she started laughing in the middle of class, making Slughorn take away Gryffindor points. 

She turned the note around and wrote on the other side.

_ I would have caved and asked you tomorrow. If you want to match, I’m wearing silver. _

After she finished the story, Hermione took out her dress (a black sleeveless gown with a silver band under her breasts), and her shoes (alarmingly high black sparkly pumps), and her makeup (nothing too much, except for a shockingly dark purple lipstick), and her hair straightener.

‘Hermione’, Luna laughed. ‘You’ll give him a heart attack.’

‘And a boner’, Ginny said, ignoring the pointed glare Hermione sent her way, because Haylee was in the room.

‘Oh he’s going to love it’, Haylee laughed, delighted.

And he did love it. When the girls made their way into the common room, Draco was already there.

He looked delightful and delicious, Hermione thought. He still wore a pair of his black skinny jeans, but there wasn’t a tear in them. A crisp black shirt and a slim fitting suit jacket were paired with a skinny tie, all black with a single vertical silver line. 

‘You all look wonderful’, he said a bit breathlessly, even if he didn’t really look at Ginny and Luna yet. When he turned to them, he smiled.

‘Are your dates picking you up here?’

‘Neville is already there’, Luna said. 

‘So is my date’, Ginny said, referring to the single gay boy on the Gryffindor Quidditch team who asked to be her replacement-Harry for the night.

Draco turned to look at Haylee with narrowed eyes. ‘What about you, young lady? Who’s the guy I have to threaten?’

‘Ugh, Dad’, Haylee groaned, good naturally. ‘I’m too young for dates. I’m picking Hannah up at the Gryffindor tower.’

‘Good’, Draco said sternly, fighting back a laugh. ‘Boys are yucky.’

Ginny laughed the hardest at that, before winking at Hermione and dragging Luna and Haylee out of there, leaving her with Draco.

‘Why was the Yule ball awful?’, is what he said, throwing Hermione off. ‘You went with Krum.’

‘Yes, I… I went with Victor.’

‘You didn’t like him?’, Draco insisted.

‘Well’, Hermione thought of how she should word it. ‘I did like him, but we were friends more than anything else. And, well, I was into Ron then. And he was being an idiot.’

‘Ah’, Draco nodded, diplomatically. ‘Why… Why aren’t you with Ron now?’

Hermione cringed. ‘I grew out of my crush. And he loves me too much like he loves Ginny.’

‘I always thought you’d end up with Potter’, Draco admitted after a beat.

Hermione snorted. ‘I’m not a fan of incest.’

He chuckled at that, warming her heart.

‘You look good’, she said, willing her cheeks not to flush.

He smiled, taking the few steps needed to stand in front of her.

‘You are gorgeous, but there’s something missing.’

Hermione frowned, but when she saw Draco pulling out a silver rose from his pocket, she laughed.

He asked for permission before securing the flower in her hair, mindful of not screwing up the complicated braids she had it up in. 

‘There’, he said, satisfied. ‘Perfect.’

It made Hermione blush, but Draco ignored it, grabbing her hand in both of his. His hands were shaking slightly, but he gently placed a kiss on the back of her hand.

‘Come on’, Hermione whispered breathlessly. 

Draco nodded once before gently guiding her out of the room and towards the Great Hall.

They didn’t dance, not together. Hermione goofed around with the girls, danced with a few of the Prefects, laughing all the time. 

Draco danced with McGonagall, a proper waltz (everyone was  _ screaming _ , but he didn’t seem to care), and with Haylee (he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist while he fooled around to the beat of the songs).

The music was good throughout the night, even if Hermione didn’t recognize a lot of the songs, because they were of wizard origine.

But then the DJ put on “We will rock you”. Most of the people on the dance floor left it, not recognizing the song but realizing it wasn’t good for dancing.

The muggle born kids, though, they all turned to look at Hermione. She grinned and promptly took off her shoes, handing them to a startled Draco. Then she grabbed a hold of Haylee’s hand, dragging her in the middle of the dance floor. Everyone followed. 

The entire wizarding world present at Hogwarts stared in confusion as all the muggle kids screamed their hearts out to We Will Rock You, as the girls pulled out their hair from their complicated braids (Hermione secured her rose under the strap of her dress), and headbanged to the song.

It was the most ridiculous thing Hermione ever did, and it was probably the most ridiculous thing to happen at Hogwarts (even counting the years Fred and George attended). 

The song ended and another one didn’t start. Hermione was laughing so hard there were tears down her face, and then McGonagall’s loud voice boomed. 

‘Five points to each of the students currently on the dance floor, because that looked painful.’

Hermione laughed even harder at that, and she didn’t really stop, even if the muggles left the dance floor and a slow dance started. She lowered herself to the ground, but didn’t stay there for long, because Draco came with her shoes and he helped her up.

He didn’t let go of her hand, though, and he hesitated.

She had to speak into his ear to be heard. ‘We don’t have to dance, I don’t need it.’

Draco frowned at that, but he did maneuver her off the dance floor. 

They spent the rest of the night sitting at a table, talking among themselves but with the other people who stopped by, too. Not just Hermione’s friends, but random students who just wanted to say hello. Draco handled it well, complimenting the girl’s dresses and shaking hands with the boys, even if he always shook his head in disbelief afterwards. 

Hermione and Neville were supposed to be the last ones to leave, but Draco and Luna waited with them. When McGonagall dismissed them, she kissed everyone’s cheeks. The boys were so flustered and bright red, Hermione had to stifle a laugh into Luna’s shoulder.

Haylee was asleep in a chair, and Draco picked her up easily, but gently, making sure she didn’t wake up. She didn’t, all the way down to her room, where Draco took off her shoes while Hermione transfigured her dress into a large t-shirt, more comfortable for sleeping.

They tucked Haylee in, closing the door behind them and they both… stopped.

Lingering, again. There was a lot of that going around these days.

‘I came back this year wanting to erase all the memories I had of Hogwarts during the war’, Hermione said, clearly startling Draco. ‘You are a large part of the reason I managed to do it.’

Draco didn’t say anything. He was looking at her very softly, somewhat hesitantly. She knew what he was thinking, something about how he couldn’t believe he was here, in this moment, alive at Hogwarts, with Hermione Granger as his best friend.

‘Thank you’, she said.

‘I won’t ever be able to thank you properly’, Draco said quickly, his eyes boring into hers. ‘You saved me and that’s a debt I can’t repay.’

‘I really don’t need you to’, Hermione shook her head.

Draco took a deep breath, as he raised his fingers to her face, brushing them gently against her cheekbone before pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. 

He turned her head to the side, closing his eyes before he kissed her cheek. His lips lingered, but there was no reality in which Hermione was moving in this moment.

‘Goodnight’, he whispered after he pulled away.

Hermione stood in the hallway a full good minute after Draco’s door closed, willing her heart and breath to settle down. 

**∆∆∆**

She wasn’t asleep when there was a knock on her door. Draco came in with his laptop, and he wordlessly put it on her bed, a slow song playing out of it. Then he extended a hand to Hermione.

‘I have too many regrets.’, he said. ‘I don’t want to add a simple dance to the list.’

Hermione took his hand and they moved to the center of the room, where there was more space. And they danced, like that. In their pajamas and bare feet, Draco’s fingers cold against hers, his face tucked away in her curls.

She didn’t know the song that was playing, and she didn’t know the song that followed it, but they were both gentle ballads, and Hermione’s cheek felt good pressed against Draco’s chest. 

There was no doubt, hasn’t been for a while, that what Hermione felt for Draco was more than friendship. Feeling Draco’s fingers grab the back of her shirt, Hermione didn’t think she was alone in that. 

But she also knew she was never going to make a move. Not because of some old romantic concept, but because she didn’t want to risk it, on one hand Draco’s state of mind, on the other hand - their friendship.

After the second song, the laptop stopped playing anything, and Draco pulled away, kissing the back of her hand before taking a low bow and thanking her for the dance.

He called her ‘my lady’.

‘You’re ridiculous’, Hermione laughed.

He shrugged, unaffected, picking up his laptop. ‘You bring it out of me.’

‘Wanna sleep in the common room?’, were Hermione’s next words, and they made Draco pause. Still, he accepted quickly enough. 

Hermione made a point, though, to not sleep on the floor and to only pull out one of the couches. He seemed to freeze, at that.

‘Don’t over think it’, she whispered, not looking at him, before getting under the covers.

It took a few beats, but Draco finally looked at her. ‘That’s my side.’

Hermione huffed, but moved to the other side of the bed. The lights turned off after Draco got in next to her, and the couch was big enough for them not to be touching. 

‘Hermione?’, he whispered, taking her breath completely, because it was the first time he ever said it to her.

‘Goodnight’, he said next, sounding incredibly smug.

Hermione kicked him in the shin. If she also let her foot rest there, nobody commented on it.

In the morning, Haylee woke them up by throwing herself across their legs and calling them stupid.

**∆∆∆**

The next morning she got letters from Harry and Ron. Harry’s was the shortest he has ever sent her.

> _ Hi Hermione. _ _  
>  _ _ Nothing interesting to report this week. I was pretty sad that I didn’t get to take Ginny to prom.  _ _  
>  _ _ Have you hooked up with Malfoy yet? _

Hermione set fire to the letter, as everyone stared at her.

Draco, who was sitting beside her, asked what was wrong.

‘Harry was being an idiot.’

Thankfully, he didn’t ask.

**∆∆∆**

She didn’t have time to think about Draco anymore, not with exams around the corner.

Hermione still spent a lot of time with him, but their heads were usually buried in books. Anxiety levels were high, sleep hours were low and at one point, the only breaks Hermione had were in the shower and when she helped Haylee study for her exams.

At one point, Hermione found herself on the floor of the library, Neville snoring next to her, Luna mumbling under her breath on his other side, Draco’s head resting on her shoulder as he revised different potions in his head, mouthing them silently.

‘I can’t remember the last time I brushed my hair’, Hermione said out loud. 

Draco turned his head, pushed his nose into the mess of Hermione’s hair, took a deep breath and turned his head back around.

‘It still smells pretty.’, he said. 

‘You were supposed to say it  _ looks  _ pretty’, Luna pointed out, not looking out from her book.

‘She already knows I love it’, Draco said, before going back to his revising.

Hermione was feeling a little bit too stressed to address that.

Harry was still finishing each of his letters with  _ Have you hooked up with Malfoy yet? _

**∆∆∆**

During the two weeks NEWTs took place, Hermione spent most nights saying that she has never been this exhausted in her life. Which was saying something, considering how her life was last year.

She turned up to the Charms exam in a pair of old jeans, sandals and one of Draco’s tshirts. She didn’t even realize it until Luna pointed it out.

On the evening after their Potions exam, Draco and Hermione fell asleep at dinner. Haylee let them sleep for a while before waking them up.

At the Transfiguration exam, Hermione turned up wearing a Slytherin tie as a hair band and Draco was wearing sweatpants and a dress shirt. McGonagall stared for a long minute. Then, she gave everyone a cup of coffee with too much sugar in it. Draco drank it all in one go.

At dinner after the last day of exams, all Hermione had to eat was a bowl of milk with four chocolate chip muffins dunked into it, while Draco and Neville looked in mild concern.

After she was done eating, she kissed Neville’s cheek, Luna’s forehead, rubbed her cheek against Ginny’s and made her way to the dungeons, Draco wordlessly following her.

He followed her all the way to her bedroom. They turned their backs to each other as Draco took off his pants and Hermione changed into her pajamas. The lights were off before they got into bed, but it was okay, because Hermione’s eyes were already closed.

‘Are we really done?’, Draco asked into the darkness.

Hermione was only able to mumble and push her cheek to his upper arm. She fell asleep three seconds after. 

**∆∆∆**

The last two weeks of term were incredible. They all still went to classes, but the teachers never gave homework anymore, and most classes were spent with them answering any questions the students had.

Evenings were spent in large groups around the castle, chatting away, remembering things that happened in the past, taking guesses about what will happen in the future. A good part of this was the 7th years preparing their graduation ceremony. 

Hermione spent her nights with Draco sleeping in her bed. They never touched when they went to sleep, but his arms were always around her when Hermione woke up. 

They were still too exhausted after their NEWTs to have nightmares.

**∆∆∆**

There was only one black dot in the marvel that were these weeks, and it came during the last Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

‘I’ve answered all your questions these past weeks. It’s your turn to answer my questions now’, the teacher grinned somewhat evilly. 

‘What was the most difficult spell or charm you ever casted? The most complicated or the one that gave you the most trouble? You each get one minute to talk about it.’

It was an easy enough question, considering everyone’s answer. 

Neville talked about  _ Expecto Patronum _ , how he thought it would be the hardest spell he’d ever perform, about how good Harry was at explaining it during the DA, about how it turned out to be the spell he had the least trouble with.

Luna spoke of how she had to help her father rebuild their house, and about how she struggled with it.

People spoke of some obscure spells, a few people talked about ridiculous charms.

Hermione and Draco were left last. Which was a good thing, because Hermione didn’t feel like spending a whole minute talking about it.

Still, she went first.

‘ _ Stupefy _ ’, she said.

Neville snorted. ‘Hermione, you got that one on the first go. I was there.’

Hermione shook her head. ‘No, I meant the  _ stupefy  _ I used against Fenrir Greyback when I realized he had killed Lavender Brown.’

To her immense satisfaction, the teacher looked shocked, appalled and incredibly pale. Honestly, she thought he deserved it for all the idiotic things he said and did in the last year.

‘It comes to a tie, really’, Hermione went on, ‘with a hulking charm I had to hit Harry with, when we were caught by snatchers and taken to Bellatrix Lestrange.’

There was complete silence in the classroom, so Draco’s voice boomed when he spoke.

‘I didn’t even get to finish the hardest spell I ever cast. Snape stopped me before I got to Avada Dumbledore.’

‘But that was the plan’, the professor said, in his idiocy.

Draco laughed a bit, at that. ‘Sure. Thankfully, it worked. But there were a lot of ways in which it could have failed. And all of those would have ended with me killing Dumbledore.’

‘But you didn’t’, the professor insisted.

Draco laughed again. ‘You have never casted an unforgivable curse in your life because you have no idea what even the  _ intention  _ of doing it means. And it’s pretty hilarious, Professor, considering how many of the students in this classroom were forced to do so last year, either by the Carrows or during the battle.’

The teacher didn’t look as bashful as he should have, instead he looked angry.

Draco snorted. ‘I can’t wait to take your place.’

He kept laughing as he picked up his things and left the classroom. Hermione followed him, but not before telling the teacher that he should really reconsider the way he approaches his students if he planned on remaining at Hogwarts in the years to come.

She found Draco in the common room, and the first thing he did was apologize.

Hermione smacked his head. ‘That was brilliant, the asshole totally deserved it! Honestly, if you wouldn’t have done it, I would have… poured horse shit on him.’

Draco laughed hard at that, but Hermione stopped him by repeatedly slapping his knee.

‘Explain yourself’, she said sternly. ‘Take his place?’

He blushed at that. ‘It was McGonagall’s idea, really. She saw me helping Haylee with her homework and… She made a great deal of sense, actually. It would make sense, if you think about it. Right?’

It did, Hermione didn’t even have to think long about it. She smiled.

‘Professor Malfoy, Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?’

Draco tried faking smugness. ‘It does have a certain ring to it, doesn’t it? But, I mean’, he sobered up. ‘There’s classes at the Ministry I have to take. A couple of years of them. And more exams and practice committees and-’

‘You’ll do great’, Hermione put her hand on his knee. ‘And I think you’ll like doing it.’

‘We’ll see’, was all Draco said, playing it down. ‘I was going to tell you, I promise, I just-’

‘I don’t mind’, Hermione shook her head, hugging him tightly before he could protest. ‘I am incredibly proud of you.’

Draco shuddered against her at that, but he also kissed her cheek and thanked her.

**∆∆∆**

Hermione was expected to make a speech at the graduation ceremony, as the student with the best grades. She wrote it all in one night, and no matter how much Draco begged, she didn’t let him read it.

Harry and Ron tried as well, till the last minute. They were in the Great Hall, them and the rest of their original 7th year, standing on the podium between the rest of this year’s students.

Hermione went onto the podium to the sound of everyone clapping and screaming, and she had to turn her back to the 7th years, addressing the rest of the school.

‘I don’t know about you guys, but I had the most memorable years of my life at Hogwarts’. She was met with laughter, but Hermione sobered up.

‘What happened to our world last year was too horrible for words to express. It was something that we will never forget, and we shouldn’t. We  _ must  _ remember the war, for those who are not among us anymore.’

She had to pause and clear her throat.

‘But as our Headmistress said at the beginning of term, it is also in our duty to  _ survive  _ it. To embrace the changes that came from it and to fight for this world, in transition as it is.’ She smiled.

‘I think we did. And I think we will continue to do so. I trust you to continue to do so. And yes, even though I’m not talking just about that, I am talking about the Slytherins.’

A few chuckles rose in the hall, Draco’s snort the loudest and an obnoxious  _ woohoo _ coming from Haylee.

Hermione shook her head.

‘I wasn’t sure what was expected from me here, so of course, I asked all of our teachers.’ Again, laughter.

‘They all said pretty much the same thing, that I should talk about  _ my  _ experience. It seems a bit egotistical, but…’, she shrugged.

‘I did a lot of things at Hogwarts. Learned even more. I was bullied and I was taught what love is. I fought a war and learned how to laugh. I made friends for life, I bled on these hallways, I annoyed you all with my perfect grades, I left you all last year because that was what I was supposed to do. But I came back.’

She smiled, taking a deep breath. 

‘I will always come back to Hogwarts. Maybe not physically, but I will always come back to my time spent here. To my memories.’

‘For those of you leaving today, I beg of you to do the same. Remember Hogwarts, for the good and the bad times you had here. For how it shaped you to be the person you are now, for the monumental role it played in your life. For those of you that have more years here, I beg you to do your absolute best to make your time here the time of your life.’

There was a round of applause after that, but Hermione silenced it down, by turning around to the 7th years and giving them a nod. There was a bit of a ruffle, as they all took out something from their robes. Each student had a Rememberall held over their heads or playing with it, the red smoak a stark contrast to their black robes. 

She was very proud of those Rememberalls, considering she spent hours on end in the last week tranfigurating them.

‘I have two more things to say.’, Hermione went on. ‘One, and I say this in the name of everyone behind me: teachers, Headmistress, thank you for making our time here count. Thank you for the lessons you taught us, for protecting us and for loving us.’

Another round of applause, even more louder.

‘And two’, Hermione grinned, ‘meet you in the courtyard.’

At that, every 7th year took their Rememberalls and turned them back to what they originally were: brooms. Then, in a chaotic flourish, they all took off, some circling the ceiling of the Great Hall, some lingering back, some going straight out the door.

Everyone was laughing and screaming and it was chaos. Delightful, celebratory chaos.

McGonagall ran to Hermione’s side, laughing, delighted by the mess they’ve caused.

‘What are you still doing here?’, the professor all but pushed her towards the door.

‘I hate flying’, Hermione said, not managing to wipe the smile of her face.

Like summoned, Draco was there. On his Nimbus, lowering himself until he was at eye level with Hermione.

‘That’s what you have me for’.

He grinned as he shoved the broom behind Hermione’s knees, causing her to stumble back. Draco held her, though, as she sat sideways on the broom, bracketed by his strong arms and legs, wrapping her hands tightly around his waist. 

‘Steady?’, he asked, still grinning down at her.

Hermione nodded and they were off. Quickly, up and down. She may have screamed. Draco may have laughed. But she was secure in his hands. 

**∆∆∆**

She cried all through the train ride back to King’s Cross, because everyone came to say goodbye. She cried the hardest when Haylee whispered in her ear that she’ll miss her and thanked her for making Draco happy.

Draco who, when they got to London, lingered. Of course.

Hermione was still crying, so he wrapped her up in his arms, chuckling softly. She cried for a while, till her sobs were reduced to sniffles, but he didn’t let go of her.

‘Are you busy tomorrow? Or the day after that? Mother wants you to come to dinner. To celebrate.’

‘Tomorrow’, Hermione quickly said. ‘Tomorrow, please.’

Draco laughed, wiped away her remaining tears and walked with her until they met her parents, who had come to pick her up. He still gave her one last hug, whispering ‘wear a dress tomorrow’. 

When she frowned at him, he grinned, cockily and very reminiscent of the first year they met.

‘We’re Malfoys. We only throw classy parties.’

**∆∆∆**

She did wear a dress. It wasn’t anything too fancy, though, just an orange sundress with a flowy skirt that stopped above her knees. 

Narcissa was crying when she opened the door, and it made Hermione cry too, instantly.

The older woman closed the door behind Hermione before she wrapped her up in a tight hug.

‘Oh, for Merlin’s sake’, Draco groaned from somewhere close by. ‘Haven’t you two cried enough? I can’t handle more crying!’

‘Draco’, Narcissa said somewhat sternly, ‘go set the table.’

He did so, but Hermione could still hear him grumbling.

When Narcissa let go of her, she was beaming at Hermione.

‘He’s so happy!’, she whispered in awe. ‘I can’t thank you enough.’

‘Please don’t’, Hermione shook her head. ‘I didn’t really do much, he’s the one who was strong enough to make it out of it.’

‘Lies’, Narcissa laughed. ‘But I’ll let you get away with it.’

They both took a moment to straighten themselves out, before they made their way into the dining room, where the table was set and the food was already out. 

‘Is it over?’, Draco asked hopefully. ‘No more snotty tears?’

Narcissa flicked his nose before urging them to start eating.

Over the course of dinner, Hermione couldn’t help but notice how proud Narcissa was of her son, of the good grades that got him accepted into the teacher program, and of the decision to go for it in the first place. Draco took all the compliments with a cocky grin, but it was a hit and miss, considering he was blushing every time.

When the food was gone, Draco spelled the dishes to wash themselves and asked Hermione if she wanted to see a movie. She followed him into his room, getting comfortable on the bed as Draco sat up his laptop.

They watched a comedy, something Hermione didn’t know of but was recommended by Netflix. It wasn’t a particularly good movie, but Draco made it better by commenting on how the story would have changed if it was set in the wizarding world.

Hermione was laughing hard. Really hard, hysterically and breathlessly. She couldn’t stop, so she pushed her cheek to Draco’s chest, still struggling for breaths.

By the time she calmed down, her breathing was in sync with Draco’s because she could feel his chest rising and falling under her, one of his hands was on her waist and when Hermione looked up, he was already looking at her, with a smile on his face and that look. That soft, vulnerable look that always made Hermione’s knees go week. 

His fingers tightened on her waist, making her breathing falter. She bit on her lower lip and Draco's eyes fell to it. It wasn’t long, though, before he was looking into her eyes again. He brought up his other hand, his fingers gently running over her cheek.

‘Am I crazy?’, Draco whispered.

‘Not about this’, Hermione breathed out shakily. 

‘But I am crazy’, he responded in kind. ‘I’m crazy about you.’

‘Good’, Hermione smiled. ‘Because I’m absolutely mental about you.’

Draco closed his eyes, exhaling shakily, but his fingers moved, from her cheek to her neck. He turned her head slightly to the side, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheekbone. 

And another, and another, his kisses moving towards the corner of her mouth, where his lips lingered. 

Hermione was tired of lingering, so she turned her head the rest of the way so she could kiss him properly. Draco responded to it, but only after taking a deep breath through his nose and moving his hands, one down to her collarbone and one up to her back.

She has no idea for how long they kissed, Hermione just knows that as impossible as it should have seemed, it actually felt incredibly right. 

Draco was a changed man, there was no doubt. And she wasn’t the same person she was before the war, either. They might have known each other for 8 years, but in the one that past, Draco got to discover who he really is and Hermione was pulled along for the ride. 

As much as she loved the ride, she loved the destination even more. Cradled between Draco’s arms, her chest against his, their lips pressed together, breathing in sync.

There were sounds coming from the movie neither of them was interested in watching anymore. They sounded like fireworks. Or maybe gunshots. 

Draco was biting on Hermione’s lower lip, and her fingers finally made it under his shirt, touching his skin and making him shiver.

Hermione couldn’t,  _ wouldn’t _ focus on anything else. 

**∆∆∆**

Three days later, Hermione was at the Burrow with all her friends. Draco was invited as well, and he promised to show up, but he hadn’t arrived yet.

Harry came to Hermione’s side, bumping their shoulders together.

‘Hermione’, he said oddly loud, ‘have you hooked up with Malfoy yet?’

Her first instinct was to be angry, because he promised not to mention it to anybody, and  _ everybody  _ was in the room. And then Hermione remembered that she had discussed it with Draco, and they both agreed they won’t keep their relationship a secret.

So Hermione smiled, at first, very innocently. And then she grinned, in an equally evil manner. 

‘Yes’, she said slowly. ‘Yes I have.’

Harry’s jaw dropped and everyone was in various levels of shock, all of them silent.

Of course, Draco chose that moment to Floo over. He bid everyone a polite hello, giving Mrs. Weasley a basket filled with wine and chocolate, saying that his mother sent her regards. 

When he turned to the rest of the room, he frowned.

‘Is something the matter?’

‘Damn it, Hermione!’, Ron suddenly exploded. ‘Couldn’t you have waited one more month?’

To her immense confusion, Neville started cackling at this. He also extended a hand, waiting for Ron to rummage through his pockets, pulling out a couple of coins and all but throwing them at Neville.

‘Did you bet on us?’, Hermione shrieked when her brain caught up with her. 

Neville nodded, clearly delighted to have won.

‘I think we are entitled to at least half of that money’, Draco said, finally making his way towards Hermione’s side. He casually wrapped a hand around her shoulders and when she turned her still crossed expression upon him, he raised an eyebrow.

She recognize the challenge for what it was, quickly turning to him and giving him a proper kiss.

Much to everyone’s dismay. The girls were laughing, the boys were groaning, Mrs. Weasley was telling everyone to calm down, Hermione and Draco were completely ignoring everyone. 

All was well, from where the two of them stood. 

 

**∆∆∆Bonus∆∆∆**

Six years later, Draco Malfoy was introduced at the start of year as the new Defence Against The Dark Arts professor, and as the Head of Slytherin.

There was one young woman, the 7th year Prefect from Slytherin, who during the round of applause that followed McGonagall’s statement, she climbed onto the table and screamed as loud as she could. Her green eyes were bright and happy and even if her curls were cut short, they still bounced chaotically.

At the beginning of his first lesson, Professor Malfoy introduced himself and politely asked his students if they had any questions. 

The Slytherin Prefect was the only person to raise her hand, the young woman grinning.

‘So did you ever get with Hermione, or are you two still being stupid?’

To his credit, all the Professor did was make his way to her table and glare at the young woman, asking for her name.

‘Haylee Barnes’, came the quick response.

Professor Malfoy didn’t really answer her question. But he smiled, gradually and fondly, and he made sure to leave his left hand lingering on the table before he made his way back to the front of the class.

Haylee noticed the golden band on his ring finger and she felt like she has been waiting for the smile that overtook her face for the past six years.

**Author's Note:**

> Please point out any mistakes or typos, proofreading is exhausting and I'm very bad at it :)


End file.
